MENTAL PATIENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 119, 16 November 1937, Page 15

MENTAL PATIENTS

CO-OPERATION SOUGHT

MINISTER MAKES AN APPEAL

DISCHARGE SYSTEM

An appeal to all members of the House and to the community, in,general . to co-operate with the Government in , bringing about the best possible con- J ditions for mental patients, was made by the Minister of Health (the Hon. P. g Fraser) in the House of Represents- E tives yesterday afternoon, when replying to a discussion.on the mental hos- « pitals report. He asked the House to< i support the Government in its expenditure of money for that purpose. Referring .to the system of allowing patients and boarders to leave the mental Tiospitals on probation, Mr. E. J: Howard (Government, Christchurch South) drew attention to the following paragraph in the report:—"Under the provisions of our Act a patient on probation may be discharged as recovered during his period of probation only if the medical superintendent - receives a medical certificate testify- c ing to the patient's recovery, but if no t such certificate is forthcoming he must '- be discharged as 'unrecovered.' We * frequently have up to 700 patients on probation, and. the majority of these \ convalesce at home to ultimate recov- I cry, but relatively few send the re- I ■quisite certificate, to the detriment of « our statistics." ' Mr. Howard said it was the patients I and not the statistics that he was con- i cerned with. •He mentioned a case * where a woman who was now, in businessi would never have her rights be- t cause she had not received after going j out on probation a certificate" marked ' "recovered." In the circumstances she c would never be mistress of her own affairs. The report itself in this con- c nectibn was a reflection on the sys- s tern. ■'■.■-. ..' ; l "It is easy to jet into our mental s hospitals under our Act, but it Is hard t to get out, even for those who have recovered," said Mr. Howard. A Government voice: Easier to get out of gaol. Mr. Howard: I believe it would be easier to get out of our gaols than out of our mental hospitals. It is because our Act is not complete. He did not wish to cast any reflection on those in authority because "he ' believed those in charge were doing , their best in the interests of the l patients. It'was the system that was *j at fault. .■ J Mr. L. G. Lowry (Government, ' Otaki) expressed pleasure at the ar- J rangements made for the inmates of ' the Porirua Mental Hospital, which * was one of ,the largest institutions of J its kind in New Zealand. It was J gratifying to know '< that the hours of } the staff had been reduced from 53 to ' 42 a week, and that the patients had x not been neglected owing to the change. ' All the mental institutions were being administered in a humane way. l TRIBUTE TO THE MINISTER. t The Leader of the Opposition (the Hon. A. Hamilton) paid a tribute to the Minister in Charge of Mental Hospitals (the Hon. P. Fraser) for his administration work. It might be worth while looking into the Act with a view to altering the provision in respect to certificates of recovery. A" medical man might not be in>a position to certify that a person who had been' in an institution had' fully recovered. At the same'tlme;'he;might not bfe! able to>s"ay the person was mental. Some combination between the two might be devised. " ' There were, many people at liberty who were .a little bit affected, but were harmless to society. If a person was not dangerous to the rest of the community, it did riot matter if he I was allowed his liberty. According to the statistics the number of mental patients was increasing, although the number of voluntary cases had shown a decline. Many people had been affected by the mental strain of the depression years.-' It had been held that the medical specialist of the future would be the nerve specialist. "We go along at a great rate today," he said. "We buzz and whizz past'at a terrific rate, and it is a great strain 'on the nerves." The nervous system was not keeping pace with scientific development. The physical system was standing up to^the strain, but that could not be said for the mental system. .. ' ■ : ■. .•■■-.. MINISTER'S REPLY; Mr Fraser, in reply, stressed the necessity for educating the community to appreciate- that, apart from certain characteristics, there was not a wide difference between public hospitals and mental hospitals. Both types cared for the suffering, the one for the physical sufferer and the other for the mental sufferer. He agreed that the years of depression must have affected the mental stability of many people, but he could not speak with" definite proof on the question The part played by heredity was another big problem, but the fact that it was thought desirable to isolate certain people from the com-, munity in general indicated that heredity had to be taken into account. It was very difficult to legislate for heredity. They could control and improve environment, but when it came to legislating for the germ-plasm, that was. beyond the depth not only of the ordinary legislator, but of science itself at the present time. One of the most pleasing features of the report was the efforts made to overcome to 'some extent the lamentable overcrowding of mental hospitals that had existed for many years, the Minister continued. In saying that he was not reflecting on any of his predecessors in office or on the Direc-tors-General concerned, who had brought about great changes and improvements. I The Government was anxious for all members of the House to visit the mental hospitals and in particular to inspect the villa system, where it was established, and note the comparative freedom the patients enjoyed. The co-operation not only of members of Parliament but of the community was sought in bringing about the bes v. possible conditions for mental patients, and he asked the House to support j the Government in its expenditure of ».ioney for the purpose. Mr. Fraser referred to proposed alterations at Porirua intended, he said, to endeavour to humanise the hospital. The Leader of the Opposition: The modern view is much different from that of-thirty years ago. Mr. Fraser: There is a change in regard to our mental hospitals from a prison outlook to a hospital outlook. That is a great advance. STAFFING OF HOSPITALS. There was no heed for under-staff-ing at mental hospitals, said, the Minister, and if it occurred it could be rectified. With the extra time off each week and longer holidays the work was not unattractive, except perhaps in the worst wards. The DirectorGeneral was not aware of any deficiency in staffing. Dealing with the incidence of goitre among 'mental hospital patients, the Minister referred to the research work being carried out and the use of iodised salt only at the institutions as an example to the community. He hoped j

that further investigation would be made, since it would be a valuable contribution to a solution of the problem.

In regard to patients on probation the Minister said that their friends were informed when they went out that if they got a certificate from a doctor that they were completely recovered, that certificate would be accepted and they would be marked off as recovered. That was the intimation given to the friends of patients, but in certain cases It might be necessary to adopt another course because the results were not satisfactory.

Public opinion had been responsible in the past for the idea that a person who had been In a mental hospital had something to be ashamed of, the Minister added. In his opinion, that was utter nonsense. It was highly desirable that people who had recovered should be written off. Consideration would be given to seeing if some more efficient system than the present could be evolved. .