MENTAL PATIENTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22142, 22 June 1935, Page 15

MENTAL PATIENTS

KINGSEAT INSTITUTION EIGHT VILLAS OCCUPIED OVERFLOW FROM AVONDALE PAST HOPES NOT FULFILLED Kingseat Mental Hospital, 12 miles from Papakura, now accommodates about 450 patients, the last two of the eight villas having been occupied some few weeks ago. This total represents the overflow of Avondaie and to some extent of Porirua. This &ew accommodation hardly provides for. the increase in the number of patients since 1927, when the Department for the Care' of Mental Defectives entered into' active occupation of the estate at Puhitahi with the intention"" of building there within a period of about 10 years an institution to which the. whole of the patients at the Avondaie Mental Hospital would be transferred. In his report .of 1928 Dr. T. G* Gray, the inspector-general, stated in regard to Avondaie: "The Government has given an undertaking to remove this institution within a, limited number of years. The number of persons actually resident in the institution on December 31, 1927, was 1163. At a conservative estimate, the total population in 1937. will not be less than 1400. No mental hospital should accommodate more than 1000 patients, but if, in all the circumstances, we allow for 1230, we should still have an excess of 150 at the end of the period. Consideration should then be given to the securing of a site for a hospital to serve thd needs of North Auckland. n

Avondaie Still Full The Avondaie population to-day is over 1400, notwithstanding the relief provided by Kingseat, and it is obvious therefore that the closing of Avondald is as far off as ever. It seems doubtful# indeed, whether the Government's undertaking could have been fulfilled even if economic difficulties had not slowed down the rate of construction at Kingseat, and ifc now appears to be more doubtful than ever whether the Avondaie institution irill be replaced by Kingseat and the other hospital sug-» gested for North Auckland witjiin de-» cades, unless some magic change takes place in the matter of money. A huge sum would be required. A mental hospital accommodating 1000 patients and requiring, say, a staff of 200 represents a small town. Before a single brick is laid, the land has to be bought, roads made, a sound water supply reticulated and a drainage system initiated. Villas of the Kingseat type, , accommodating 50 patients, cost about £IO,OOO, and subsidiary buildings such as laundries* bakeries, etc., add heavily to the capi- * tal outlay. For a country with the loan \ liabilities of New Zealand, the sweeping a,way of one big mental hospital and its replacement by others would mean a far greater burden than a casual glance at the proposition would suggest.

Development at Kingseat At the same time, there is a strong ca ®? J or development of Kingseat, which has been planned for a capacity of 1000 patients. Twelve more villas are required, besides a hospital block and service blocks of one kind and .'•>! another. The task is an essential one. It would be more to the point if the rubhc Works Department used what runds it has available upon such necessary works than upon roads into th© j wilderness. Building being a key' in- i (lustry, expenditure upon it is verv i widely distributed.

Kingseat is being developed on an area of 6-50 acres, the west boundary ot which is touched by the Whatapuka arm of the Manukau Harbour. The complete institution was planned and on? 3 before the land was purchased, ihus it will not grow in any haphazard manner. »

An area of about 100 acres on the north side of the Patumahoe j*oad is to be the site of the actual institution of 20 villas, the administration block, several service blocks, and the residence of the medical officer and the chief clerk. The eight villas are the only manent buildings so far erected. " The work for the immediate future Emprises a house for the medical officer, who is not yet resident, and a block containing a bakery, butchery and refrigerator, designed to serve the completed institution. The laundry will be built in the vicinity. It also will provide for the needs of 1000 patients and the staff. i . :i T

Model Villas All the villas, which are two-storeyed blocks, with three dormitories, and one or two single bedrooms, two sitting rooms, one being a perfect sunroom, a dining room and a kitchen, are of ■; the same type. The first to be erected were of brick alone, with a plaster finish around the upper storey. The later ones are of steel and concrete to minimise earthquake risks, but they are finished in precisely the same ' manner.

Roading is not completed, and a, good deal of tree planting has, still to be done. A splendid recreation ground of several acres has been fin-, ished and well turfed. Tarred tennis* courts have been made and doubtless a bowling green will follow. The site is an ideal one, in the heart of easy rolling country that has the appearance of being well farmed. The estate was not as well developed as the surrounding country when it was taken over, but in the seven years of occupation the labour of patients and their attendants has wrought a wonderful change. A considerable arsa of swamp that contained a great deal of timber has been drained, part being now ill grass and part in cultivation. Patients on the Farm Over 500 acres will be reserved permanently as a farm, which already = carries about 100 milking cows, 200 store cattle and 200 pigs. Model milking sheds, stables and piggeries have been erected, and there iis useful employment for everyone capable and willing to work. - ' A man who persistently refused to work might have to be treated elsewhere, but no compulsion is used on the Kingseat farm. Occasionally a man goes on strike, always a lone-handed matter, because only mental defectives with anti-social tendencies ever attempt to unite. Ho may say, "I am not being paid. I am not going to work." The attendant replies, "Well, Bill" (Christian names appear to be the rule), "you had better leave the job." or, "Take a day off." The patient departs and no one bothers him, but in almost every in- 1 stance he is back in a few hours or next morning. Such is the wisdom and kindliness of modern treatment of tlie mentally afflicted. j It will, of course, lie understood that so far only harmless patients, who show no inclination to wander away, have been sent to Kingseat. They have the appearance of being happy and contented. The great majority of the patients are industrious and the sense of freedom of Kingseat seems to make them happier than they were at Avondale. If it were not a mental hospital Kingseat would be a pleasant place to visit.