HOKITIKA MENTAL HOSPITAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16583, 16 November 1921, Page 10

HOKITIKA MENTAL HOSPITAL.

ALLEGATIONS SUPPORTED, i Bishop Julius’s criticism of the Hold- J tika Mental Hospital, published in the £ * Star ” recently, is strongly sup- | ported by residents of the West j Coast who know the conditions under • which patients are kept in the insti- ; tution. It is reported that the Gov- I ernjneait has put aside a grant of I in oruer to repair anci acid to ‘ me nunuinga, but an opiu.un is ex- ; pressed Ire-eiy tiiat tliey are long past • repair, ana tnat tney siiouid oe re- ! piaceci by new ones, planned in accordance witli modern treatment oi mental iMutiuUi. xi member oi tlie “■ &tar ” aiaii, who, at tlie suggestion of several West Coast people, visited tlio institution on Monaay, found ciiere conaiuons winch, compared witn tiioso at iSunnysicie, seem to be shocknig. Jhe old lio»£,tika (_*aoi, built more Loan fifty years ago, is part of the institution. A lresn patient is admitted through a forbidding 4 gaol door i.-to a gaoi vara that is even more dismal. Most, of the gaol fences, 16 or 18 feet nigli, ar© still standing. A marked improvement recently was made by removing several chains of a fence on the aeawaid side of the grounds. . It has been placed further down the lull on wuich the institution stands. It stih helps to imprison patients, but it no longer towers above them forbiddingly, and from a garden some of them help i.o make, they have an uninterrupted viev, oi one of the best seascapes in tho Dominion. lai ts oi the buildings, inside and out, are worm-eaten, decayed and damp, and badly in need of paint. Many of the joists of the floors have gone. Sacking and paper prevent the wind from coming in gusts through many broken panes in tho windows, liie waits, particularly of the commonrooms, and the dining-rooms, have been paiiiteu in dull colours. Dormitories, built on plans favoured by prison architects half a century ago. are ventilated so badly that, the air in them at n gilts * s heavy with a horrible smell. Beads cut- aiong tho tops of some of the walls where they join the ceiling have brought about an improvement, but not •erv much. Cooking is don© under cramped conditions that make cleanliness difficult. Some of the tin plates have had pieces broken from their rims, and some of the mugs have been economically soldered. The old gaol bu Idings are wooden, but an ingenious and talented painter painted some of the passage walls to resemble dull, cold stone. lie, not quite so successfully, marbled some of the cell walls. The nurses’ quarters are uncomfortable, shabbily furnished, and frowsy : the men’s quarters much more so. The worst part of the institution, from one point of view, is the abominable sanitary arrangements. The whole environments, except for the gardens, the view of the sea, and a few other features, are utterly depressing. Most of the 260 men and women in the institution are dements. A fail percentage are patients who suffer at intervals onlv. On wet days, when they go into the common rooms, all are together. As it is the only mental hospital on the West Coast, local patient a slightly deranged are sent t-o it. Their friends often are distressed by the that those j>atients are in contact with some of the worst cases. Dr Buchanan, officer in charge, in reply to a question said that some of his patients were fine men and women, whose cure under proper treatment was certain, and, perhaps rapid. Amongst the patients were splendid-women, who at intervals, were quite normal. Tn reply to another question, based on the sanitary arrangements, he said that there had bew cases of typhoid in the institution. This led him to say that the room used as an ordinary hosivtal was very inadequate, and that there) should be a larger one, with much better equipment. TTe sooke highly of the work of the staffs in the circumstances. Dr Baird, who practises privately in Hokitika, said that the institution at present was an ntterlv impossible one. “ Patients sent to it,” he said, “ so far from recovering, actually become worse. The snrround'ngs and th» environment are against them all the time. Almost every time a question is raised as to the necessity for seeding a patient to that mental Tmardtal Urn relatives or friends sav: ‘We’d rather see him dead.’ Tt is imnosciblo f.-,. patch tip the old gaol. A new building is absolutely necessary-”