PROGRESSIVE POLICY

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12363, 5 February 1926, Page 7

PROGRESSIVE POLICY

FOR MENTAL HOSPITALS MINISTER PLANS EXTENSIVE TOUR ! IMPROVED METHODS During his years as a private member of the House of Representatives the Hon. J. A. Young was noted as a tireless worker. Since his elevation to the Ministry of Public Health the indications are that he proposes to apply at least as much energy to’his higher duties. Mr Young has mapped out for himself a round of visits of the mental hospitals of the Dominion. Already he has visited Porirua. Next week he will strike across to the northern portion of the South Island, and visit various departmental institutions there. He will work down to Christchurch, via Kaikoura, make inspections there, and then return to Wellington. Later lie will gt> to Dunedin, and after that make a trip north. Talking yesterday on the subject of mental hospitals, of which a good deal has been heard during recent sessions of Parliament, the Minister said that he did not care to express himself at all freely for purposes of publication just yet; he was really just taking steps to gain first-hand information respecting the institutions. However, it is perfectly clear that the Minister intends to push on with the progressive policy which has been decided on for the improvement of the system.

Among the most important decisions arrived at for the improvement of the system were the following:— # (a) To afford the fullest opportunities for persons in a state of nervous and mental instability to obtain early and reliable advice, so as to facilitate prompt recognition and suitable treatment in the incipient stages of mental breakdown.

(b) To ensure the provision and use of improrved methods of handling and dealing with mental patients, prior to and at the time of committal as insane, and to do away with temporary lodgment in prison, pending decision. (c) To ensure the provision and better use of facilities for classification, care, and treatment—especially in the case of the more recent, impressionable, sensitive, and curable patients. It is understood that the overcrowding which was a cause of such grave complaint respecting Porirua has been done away with to a great extent by the addition of a couple of new wards and villas. However, as Porirua has the highest admission rate of any mental hospital in the Dominion and as the additions merely accommodate the present inmate®, it is considered that the overcrowding will soon return unless the future is looked to.