The fifty-eighth annual report of James Murray's Royal Asylum, Perth.

  • James Murray's Royal Asylum for Lunatics
Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The fifty-eighth annual report of James Murray's Royal Asylum, Perth. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    I 2 The Staff. in the Register of Restraint and Seclusion. It refers to the use of gloves in the case of a woman of extremely suicidal tendency. Her constant endeavours to put an end to her existence were most ingenious and unexpected. On one occasion she succeeded in biting the bowl off an eggspoon at breakfast time, and swallowing it there and then, and the buttons of her clothing similarly disappeared. Such determined attempts at sui¬ cide can only be met by extreme measures ; and, to my mind, the use of mechanical restraint in such a case is not only justifiable, but compulsory. The Matron was subjected to a violent attack by a patient, but fortunately assistance was promptly rendered, and no serious consequence resulted. I have not found that these occurrences are causative of so many changes in the staff as might be expected, although, of course, the haras¬ sing and constant wear and tear to which attend¬ ants and nurses are exposed often becomes insupportable. Only one, during the past year, committed the unpardonable offence of striking a patient. This attendant was a recent comer, and the blow did not seem to warrant any action on the part of the Procurator-Fiscal. He was dismissed on the spot. It will be necessary for the Directors to con¬ sider whether some improvement in the accom¬ modation for nurses and attendants can be made, and whether they can be relieved of the house¬ maids’ work, to which so much of their time is at present devoted, so that their whole attention may be given to the patients, and to them alone. I do not think that there can be a satisfactory
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