Reports and accounts for 1862 : printed by order of the Court of Quarter Sessions (Asylum opened March 16, 1859) / Pauper Lunatic Asylum for the County of Northumberland.
- Northumberland County Asylum (Cottingwood, England)
- Date:
- [1863]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Reports and accounts for 1862 : printed by order of the Court of Quarter Sessions (Asylum opened March 16, 1859) / Pauper Lunatic Asylum for the County of Northumberland. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![SUPERINTENDENT’S ANNUAL REPORT. Northumberland County Asylum, Cottingwood, Morpeth, January ls£, 1863. Gentlemen, I beg respectfully to lay before you, as heretofore, a report of this Asylum for the past year, accompanied with the usual Statistical Tables. The routine of Asylum life, as a rule, varies so little from year to year, that beyond the information the Tables themselves are able to afford, any remarks that I may have to make, may be compressed into little compass. I trust however, you will think the past year has not been behind its predecessors, but that the Institution has continued to shew progress, both as regards the amount of work accomplished by the labor of the patients, the benefits conferred, as evidenced by the recoveries that have taken place, the sanitary condition of the Asylum generally, and the increased comforts that have been supplied to the Inmates. The number of patients in the Asylum at the date of my last report, January 1st, 1862, was 198, viz, 96 men and 102 women, of whom 2 men and 1 woman had been received as private patients. As will be seen from the first Table, (Admissions and Discharges), 44 men and 36 womon have been admitted during the year, two of each sex being private patients. 33 patients have been discharged recovered, being at the rate on the numbers under treatment of nearly 12 per cent.; 8 have been discharged relieved, 4 of whom, being private patients, were removed at the will of their friends and against my wish and connection with their perfect recovery. One patient was trans¬ ferred to another Asylum, and 14 have died, leaving in the Asylum, this day, 222, viz,, 113 men and 109 women. It will, I am sure, be satisfactory to the Committee to observe the low rate of mortality, (the number of deaths being only 5 per cent.) more especially when the numbers under Medical treatment are taken into consideration. The same chief causes of Death, viz,, General Faralysis in the men, and Pulmonary Consumption amongst the women, headed the list as heretofore. For the other causes I would beg to refer you to the Special table of them appended to this Report, I may however remark, with thankfulness, that no death from suicide, or from any accidental source, has occurred during the year, and that we have likewise still been free from any disease of an epidemic character. The healthy condition of the building, arising in a great measure from its situation, has been such, that I have abandoned the idea of distinct wards as Infirmaries, considering that the sick can be sufficiently looked after in their respective wards, with the advantage of being tended by those to whom they generally become attached, and doing away with the depressing effects of removal to the care of others, in wards specially devoted to the sick or incurable. The system of night] attendance, adopted here, although not followed in some Asylums, I consider has always been very beneficial, both to the health of the patients themselves, as well as contributing to the cleanly and healthful state of the building generally. The patients have continued to be regularly and usefully employed, and many have had to thank the continued efforts made, to exert and employ themselves, for their recovery and restoration to their homes. The Airing Courts are now all completed. A sunk Bowling-green with terraced walks, and flower beds attached, has also been formed, the bowls for which were kindly contributed by a member of the Committee. All the roads in connection](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30310817_0007.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
