OLD AND USELESS.

NZ Truth, Issue 59, 4 August 1906, Page 6

OLD AND USELESS.

"Only a Pauper Whom Nobody Owns."

Hospital or Asylum ? Let Us Toss Up

The starving poor, the suffering aged, the chronic invalid, and t>hf/ partially brain-afflicted person m Ohristchurch has a dolorous time of it. They a re sq much mud. They arc; an incubus, a distressing circumstanceand a darned nuisance to those m authority who are supposed to look after their welfare. The hard lines experienced by these people who are devoid of money, friends, or influence, and the superhuman efforts that have to be made before timely aid is rendered by those who are paid to render that aid, has frequently been adverted to m the columns of "Truth," and now comes another sad casr. And probably next, week there will be another, and another the week aftei that. This time the hospital is a' fault. The facts arc that an chlorJ* woman had for some time nmi liviiv--with a family m the city. There has I

been nothing very much ■ the matter with her, except that she required attention , which couldn't he always ! given, and that she was beginning to suffer from senile decay. A doctor ordered her removal to the hospital, and the police took her thither,, but acting-house surgeon Dr Bett, hum'd and "had, and demurred and fussed round, although the patient was there on a medico's advice. He didn't think lie could take her in— there wasn't a bed. This was a very hap- I py thought m the way of foraging out j an excuse. However, he examined the woman m the ambulance van, and definitely decided not to admit her for the reason stated. So the police had perforce to CART HER. BACK AGAIN to the house they took her from. But* the people there wanted to shunt the old bag" of bones ; they had had quite enough of her, and refused to accommodate her any longer. Consequently eopperdoni found itself cumbered with a woman it didn't want, either. So the only thing for it was to dumpher into a police cell, and think the problem out. They solved it by calling m a couple of doctors and Bishop,S.M., .and after the former had certified to the female as being insane the S.M. committed her to the.Sunnyside Asylum. Now/* as doctor No. 1 had asnt her to the hospital, and as Dr Bett would have admitted her "had there been a bed," the old lady' doesn't seem to have been the drivelling idiot the last two doctors, made her out. Did they give a certificate merely to relieve an. awkward situation and deliver the unfortunate from ' a criminal's cell ? It looks very much like it. In which case one would like to know the value of these conscientious medical certificates which we hear so much about. The writer is inclined to think that the statement that there wasn't another bed at the hospital was so much moonshine, because cases were admitted afterwards. Tn the interests of humanity that old woman should have been taken 'm ; the treatment accorded her was SHAMEFUL IN THE EXTREME. There are any number of patients of her- Class m the hospital and have been for a long time— years— past. And the fact that they are incurable '■points;-; 'to- the fact that it is high 1 .time jbliat incurables should be separated from the. curable patients. It is absolutely essential that Homes for this class should be established m every big centre without • delay, and "Truth" hopes that the Government will deal with the, matter promptly. If the Christchurch hospital is overcrowded wiry doesn't the inept Board that controls it buck up and deal with the matter and considerably enlarge the institution? But we all know, that the lunatic asylums qf the colony are grossly overcrowded also, and that hundreds of people, such as the old woman just consigned to Sunnyside, shouldn't be there' at all. The attention that is at present . lavished on could' be better devoted to curable patients, who would then haye f a better chance of regaining their sanity. So, boiled down,, the fact is that there are people, at .the hospital who shouldn't be m it, arid others m the asylum who really aren't lunatics, but merely ; • ' A BIT SOFT IN THE HEAD, and who require attention. The refusal to admit the woman referred to, and her. incarceration m a police cell, has caused some sultry talk among hospital subscribers m Christchurch, and more will be heard of the matter. But the way all these public institutions are run m that city savors of garish imbecility. Dr Bett actually stated that had the female been sent there upon a magisterial order they would have been obliged to take her m ; which shows that room could have been found for her all right. "Truth" intends saying something more aboufr 7 this hospital later on. The methods of callous officialdom m the city of the glorified church are not understandable to most people who help to nay its screw ; they are paid to relieve the sick and suffering and the indigent ; and all who are distressed,' but they appear to be devoid of the spirit of sweet charity and adopt a freezing attitude when appealed to for aid ; and do things with a Chinese impassiveness that is utterly galling to the humane of the community- Then they endeavor to justify their actions, and act the loony generally, embroidered with obnoxious red tape and sundries !