RAVENTHORPE

Korero (AEWS), Volume 2, Issue 23, 15 January 1945, Page 11

RAVENTHORPE

A KORERO REPORT There is bush on the hills and streams which are good for bathing. The sun w'arms you, blisters you even. But in this military camp there is no drill. There are rambles and walks but no route marches, and billiard cues instead of rifles. You may go home every week-end if the journey isn’t too far; there are films and concerts and dances but no work unless you volunteer. And they still pay you every second week. A military camp ? This is a military camp. There’s no catch about it. It’s the Raventhorpe Convalescent Depot, about twenty-six miles from Auckland. Here Army and Air Force patients are able to recuperate from the time they leave their beds until they are recovered and fit. Walking cases only are taken. From camps and hospitals in NewZealand, servicemen are directed here for specialized convalescent treatment. There’s plenty to eat, lots of time for sleep, tons of leave : there’s a lot more as well. Physio-therapy, using the latest equipment, is important; but don’t be frightened by the word—application is pleasant, results successful. With a programme as varied and interesting as possible, time passes quickly. “ It’s been nice having you : come again sometime.” The sergeant-major shakes hands, says good-bye. His w-ords are a sort of joke. Men who leave Raventhorpe don’t usually return —not because they don’t want to, but because there is no need. Men home from service overseas and who are in need of treatment are not directed to this depot: they have to ask to be sent. The reason is the authorities feel that returned personnel wish to be near their homes and families ; the result is out-patient treatment at public hospitals, often for a long time—-

a time much longer than would be needed at Raventhorpe. Advantages of controlled convalescent treatment over outpatient attendance are so many for it to be preferable for men to visit their families and afterwards to apply for admission to the depot. Results show time and worry are saved. Few overseas servicemen have heard of Raventhorpe and its facilities. They do not know they have to ask for admission. It is for this reason the number of patients is about only onethird that there is room for (and of these only 20 per cent, are returned men). It is for this reason this article has been written. Patients have complaints from hernias to fevers. Post-operative cases and muscular troubles are the most common. On admission, the patient is examined by one of the two staff doctors and, depending on the type of complaint, put into one of five groups. A specialized physical training instructor is in charge of each group. At least once a week, if necessary more often, the patient is examined by the doctor with the P.T. instructor present ; each makes his report and future treatment is agreed on. This close liaison among doctor, P.T. instructor, and masseuse gives the patient every chance. The P.T. includes exercises and games outdoors and in the fully equipped gymnasium. A large playing field gives plenty of room for sport. There are swimming pools, courts for badminton, and three tennis courts will be ready this summer.

Occupational therapy is no less important. The men’s individual hobbies provide its basis. In special workrooms the patients are given work from which their disability will derive most benefit. They include weaving and spinning, leather work and cane work, pokerwork, and the making of such things as toys, slippers, gloves, and handbags. Heavy machines have been fitted for sewing, all necessary equipment and tools are provided, and there is a carpenters’ shop (an order for several workshop machines is expected to be filled soon). Qualified instructors are attached to the staff, and under their tuition patients quickly learn the craft they take up. The goods they make they are able to buy for the cost only of the materials. A sick bay, a nursing sister, and four V.A.D.s are able to care for the men who have to stay in bed. A dispensary is attached. In the same building is the physio-therapy department for the treatment of muscular complaints. There are three masseuses ; there is also all the necessary equipment, including infra-red, ultra-violet light, inductotherm and short wave machines, galvanizim, faradizer, wax baths, and muscle training apparatus. Where necessary, specialists’ opinions, x-rays, or treatment are arranged with the Auckland Public Hospital. This means that, in addition to the services of the staff doctors, each man, if necessary,

has the opportunity of examination by a doctor who specializes in his own particular trouble. Here is a typical day’s routine at Raventhorpe : 0645 hours, wake-up, get-up ; 0730, breakfast ; 0830, roll call, occupational therapy, and a specialized P.T. period ; 0930 to 1015, games or an organized stroll outside the camp grounds, followed by morning tea and a film or a lecture either by a member of the staff or of A.E.W.S. ; 1145, lunch period ; 1300, rest period ; 1400, specialized exercises and games, afternoon tea ; 1600, showers and clean-up ; 1715, dinner. The evening is for relaxation. In the large theatre there are films, concerts, socials, and dances on different nights. Housie is a game that is popular. There is a library, plenty of radios. For those who prefer quietness there are reading, writing, and card rooms. There are three billiards tables, tables for table tennis, a room for indoor bowls. The time passes quickly to lights-out, and then it’s bed with sheets, pillow cases, and kapoc mattresses. Raventhorpe is a military establishment, run on Army lines and with Army discipline—but that discipline is mild and those in charge understanding. Work and fatigues are done only by volunteers ; and those men are allowed additional leave privileges. Time of convalescence varies, of course, with the nature and extent of the complaint, but there is a minimum of two weeks. One man was there a year and was sorry to go. Lieutenant-Colonel J. Aitken Paterson, E.D., N.Z.M.C., is the officer commanding, Captain Noel Crump (former New Zealand swimming champion) the adjutant. The staff, of sixty-five, is made up of five nursing sisters, twenty-six Waacs, five officers, and twenty-nine other ranks. Many of ,that staff are returned men of either this war or the last, and their experience overseas has been helpful. In the two years that the depot has been in operation, more than two thousand patients have been admitted for treatment. The 26 acres that are the site of the Raventhorpe Convalescent Depot were once used as a fort in the Maori Wars.

But now Martin’s Redoubt, as it was then called, is laid out in gardens that are known through the district. There are streams on three sides. Last year the nursery provided seedlings that would have cost £2OO had they been bought. The grounds are quiet and peaceful in the Auckland sunshine, and all the year are beyond the dampness of the fog-line. A better position could not have been chosen. The results of the treatment —the combination of physio and occupational therapy and specialized physical training, under medical treatment and supervision, and with specialist opinion where necessary—have been encouraging. But at present the depot is not used to anything like its full capacity, and of the patients not enough are returned men. It is hoped that in the future more soldiers and men of the Air Force back from overseas service and in need of treatment will

apply for admission. All complaints and disabilities are cared for, and Raventhorpe is especially suitable for those suffering from war neurosis.