31

H. 7

Males. Females. JTotal. Farm and garden . . .. . . 67 .. 67 Wards .. 29 32 61 Workshops .. .. .. .. ..10 .. 10 Laundry .. .. .. .. .... 15 15 Kitchen .. .. .. .. ..11 .. 11 Officers' rooms .. . . . . .. 2 1 3 Needlework .'. .. .. . . . , 1 11 12 Total employed .. .. .. . . 120 59 179 Unemployed (unfit or refusing) .. 42 47 89 162 106 268 About 37 per cent, of the patients join in the usual entertainments, dances, concerts, &c. The usual number of cricket matches have been played, and the record tells of 97 having participated in the annual picnic, and 109 in the Christmas festivities. Fifty (males, 28 ; females, 22) attend Divine service. It will be noted that the admissions (37) outnumbered the discharges and deaths by 18. Altogether, 12 patients left recovered and 6 died (3 males and 3 females). In 4 cases death was due to exhaustion of the status epileptics (3 female and 1 male), 1 man died from senile decay, and 1 succumbed to an attack of pneumonia. In the course of the visit all the patients were seen, and no rational complaint was made. The Hospital was clean and orderly, and the little touches of tasteful decoration in the wards, and the comparative absence of excitement among the patients, gave the place a distinctly comfortable and homely air. The patients were seen at meals and the food was tasted ; it was abundant, of good quality, and well cooked. New laundry machinery is being installed, and will soon be working. The Nurses' Home is being painted and repapered. The airing-green for the women is too limited, and I discussed with Dr. Crosby.the question of its extension, and agreed with the scheme he projected and that it should be put in hand forthwith. The danger from fire in so large a wooden building of this class, a matter which has frequently been discussed, is minimised by the extreme vigilance exercised and by frequent fire-drills. The radical solution, to be practicable, depends on the larger question of how best to meet the growing residuum in the mental hospitals, and awaits the answer. I went over the farm with Dr. Crosby, and satisfied myself that the piggeries were in no respect a nuisance either to persons within or without our boundaries. . The pigs are very profitable, adding £200 to the income of the Hospital, and it is against common-sense to expect regulations framed to meet the case of ordinary building sections to apply to a farm because it happens to be in the city boundary. Some time ago the manure heap, some chains removed from our Coromandel Street boundary, was objected to. I walked all round it, and appreciated no disagreeable smell. The manure is taken in barrows to.this heap from lower down and nearer the boundary where it is dumped by the carts, and objection to this temporary deposit is more conceivable. To remedy the matter Dr. Crosby is to make a road as soon as possible to the back of the cultivated ground, and out of reach of criticism, where the manure will be carted in the first instance. This work will be a considerable undertaking, but it is justified by our policy of not giving neighbours ground for complaint, though the complaint be largely sentimental. On the 10th December last Miss Sims, of the Wellington Hospital, was appointed Matron. This appointment was the subject of anxious consideration, because, on the one hand, we wished to improve the status and training of mental hospital nurses, and it was acknowledged that the appointment of a registered nurse with Miss Sims's credentials would foster this ; while, on the other hand, there were deserving charge nurses in the service capable of carrying on the work on traditional lines. Miss Sims tells me that she finds the work congenial, and that she is settling into her new duties. Dr. Brett, who came from Home on a three years' engagement which terminates on the Bth December, tells me that he intends to enter general practice when the engagement expires. I have assured him that there is no desire on the part of the Department to hold him to the letter of the agreement should a good opening present itself before that date. I wish him every success. Dr. Crosby tells me that the staff is working well, and I must congratulate him upon the highly satisfactory state in which I found this Mental Hospital. The statutory books were examined, and were found to be neatly and correctly kept. The dietary for the staff is similar to that detailed in reports of other mental hospitals. 24th April, 1907. —I accompanied the Hon. the Minister on a visit to this Mental Hospital to-day. I have nothing material to add to my last report. We now saw the new road, which was therein referred to as under contemplation, being actively constructed. Ashburn Hall Licensed Mental Hospital. 26th July, 1906. —I visited this Mental Hospital to-day, and saw all the patients. I have nothing but praise for the condition of the institution, and the evident care bestowed upon the inmates. The management is highly satisfactory. 21st October, 1906.—There are 26 ladies (2 of whom are absent on probation, and 5 of whom are voluntary boarders) and 23 gentlemen patients on the Hospital books to-day. All were seen except the 2 ladies who are on probation. No complaint was made, but there were many spontaneous expressions of appreciation. As usual, everything was in excellent order, the wards were scrupulously clean, and throughout there was an unmistakeable air of comfort. There has been no employment of mechanical restraint, and as large an amount of liberty as possible, compatible with safety, is accorded. This Private Hospital with conspicuous success is fulfilling a most useful and necessary function, complementary to the Government Mental Hospitals. The impression made by the visit was most pleasant.