MENTAL HOSPITALS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 17 November 1937, Page 9

MENTAL HOSPITALS

CONDITIONS FOR THE | PATIENTS CO-OPERATION OF THE COMMUNITY CHANGE FROM PRISON TO HOSPITAL OUTLOOK [From Our Own Parliamentary Reporter] WELLINGTON. Kith November. 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 conditions for mental patients, was made by the Minister of Health (the Hon. I*. Fraser) in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon, when replying to a discussion on the Mental Hospitals report. He asked the House to support the Government in its expenditure of money for (hat purpose. Replying to the system of allowing palicnh and boarders to leave the mental hospitals 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 medL 1 superintendent receives a medical certificate testifying to the patient's recovery, but if no such cciti(icate 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 recovery, but relatively few send the requisite certificate, to the detriment of our statistics.” Mr Howard said it was the patients and not the statistics that he was concerned with. He mentioned a case where a woman who was now in business would never have her rights because she had net received after going out on probation a certificate marked “recovered.” In the circumstances she would never be mistress of her own affairs. The report itself in this' connection w,i: a reflection on the system. “It is easy to get into our mental hospitals under our Act but it is hard to get out even for those ho 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.' 1 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 patients. It was the system that was at fault. He was glad to know that further investigation was to be made ino the question of goitre incidence. Mr L. G. Lowry (Government. Otaki) expressed pleasure at the arrangements made for the inmates of ihe Honrua Mental Hospital which was one of the largest institutions of its kind in New Zealand. It was gratifying to know that the hours of the staff had been reduced from 53 to 42 a week and that the patients had not been neglected owing to the change. All the mental institutions were being administered in a humane way. TRIBUTE TO THE MINISTER The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Hamilton, paid a tribute to the Minister in charge of Mental Hospitals, Mr 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

la position to certify that a person who Iliad been in an institution had fully re- | I covered. At the same lime lie might mil j i be able to say the person was mental.- | Some combination belween the two! I might he devised. There were many j people at liberty who were a little hit , j affected but harmless to society, if a; I peVson was not dangerous to the rest | of the community il did not matter if |he was allowed his liberty. According I to the statistics the number of mental I ! patients was increasing although the j number of voluntary eases had shown a i i decline. Many people had been allccted | j by ihe mental strain of the depression i years. It had been held that the medical ! specialist of the future would be the | nerve specialist. "We go along at a ' great rate to-day." he said. “We buzz, i and whizz past at a terrific rate and it ! jis a great strain on the nerves." The' j nervous system was not keeping pace 1 I with scientific development. The phys-j ieal system was standing up to Hit j strain, but that could not be said for i the mental system. EDUCATING THE COMMUNITY The Minister of Health (the Hon. K. Fraser) in reply, stressed the necessilj | for educating the community to appie- j date that, apart from certain eharac- I (eristics, there was not a wide differ-i once between public hospitals and men- ! tal hospitals Both types eared for tic; suffering, the one for the physical suf-1; ferer and the ether for the mental suf- i ferer. ; He agreed that the years of depres- ; sion must have affected the mental sta bilitv of many people but he could not , speak with definite proof or the quc.v | tion. The part played by heredity was another big problem, but the fact that j it was thought desirable lo isolate certain people from the community in general indicated that heredity had to he taken into account It was very dillicu’it 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 leg- ] islator, but of science itself at the pro- ! sent lime. I One of the most pleasing features of j the report was the efforts made to over- j come to some extent the lamentable j overcrowding of mental hospitals that i had existed for many years, the Minis- j ter continued. In saying that lie was j not reflecting on any of his predecessor i in office or on the Dircctors-Gcneral concerned who had brought about , great changes and improvements. The. ; Government was anxious fur all mem- . bers 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 best possible conditions ‘ for mental patients, and he asked the 1 House to support the Government in irs expenditure of money for the purpose. 1 Mr Fraser referred to proposed alter- 1 ations at Porirua. intended, he said, to 1 endeavour to humanise the hospital. 1 The Leader of the Opposition (the ; Hn. A. Hamilton); The modern view is much different from that of thirty years i ago. ( Mr Fraser: There is a change in re- i gard to our mental hospitals from a ■ prison outlook to a hospital outlook. ( That, is a great advance. , NO NEED FOR UNDER-STAFFING !!

There was no need for under-staffing at mental hospitals said the Minister, and if it occurred it could be rectficd. With the extra time ofT each week and longer holidays the work was not unattractive except perhaps in the worst wards. The Director-General was not aware of any deficiency in staffing. Dealing with the incidence of goitre among mental hospital patients, the Minister referred to the research workbeing carried out and the use of iodised salt only at the institutions as an example to the community. He hoped 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 tho present could be evolved