Annual report on the health and medical services of the state of Queensland.

  • Queensland. Department of Health.
Date:
[1945]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report on the health and medical services of the state of Queensland. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    42/44 (page 40)
    The advantage of recent mental medical legislation is now becoming apparent through the increased number of voluntary patients who are seeking admission to the mental hospitals for the benefit of the skilled treatment therein; and in the implementation of this legislation a Psychiatric Clinic has recently been established in Brisbane. Two Social Welfare officers have been appointed to the staff of the Brisbane Mental Hospital, one certificated in the several branches of nursing, and the other with training in psychology. The benefit of their work has already been felt to a marked degree, and at a later date their services will be seconded to the Psychiatric Clinic. This clinic has been accommodated in temporary offices in Brisbane under the control of the Director of Mental Hygiene. Dr. S. Baumatz has been appointed Director of the Psychiatric Clinic, and associated with him will be Professor Kyle, Phychologist, Dr. Ellis Murphy, Physician Specialist, and the two social welfare workers, together with the neces¬ sary clerical staff. In its initial stages the guidance of the clinic has been readily availed of, and this public service appears to be meeting a long-felt want. This clinic will be further developed as soon as the necessary alterations have been effected to an existing building which is being taken over for the time being. . Tll.e hospitals have retained the services of the whole of their visiting specialists staff with the exception that at the close of the year, Dr. H. Johnson, was forced to discontinue his visits owing to the pressure of private practice. The dental health of the patients at the Mental Hospitals and the Home for Epileptics is cared for by the Visiting Dentists to the respective institutions, whilst their optical needs are attended to by the Visiting Optometrist. During the past year we were without the services of the Honorarv Chiropodists, who have been unable to continue their visits for tlie time being. , The Inspector of Asylums, Dr. Fryberg, visited the hospitals during the year, whilst the official visitors also made monthly visits. The mental hospitals at Brisbane and Toowoomba con¬ tinue to suffer an acute shortage of female nurses, which greatly accentuates the merit of the work being performed by those serving on the staffs at present. The Department is staffs7 ofPtb'r\Siy€ °f- excellent service rendered bv the s a s of the various institutions and which has enabled the standard of the hospitals to be maintained. A° ^eri0(t now under review, so acute had the £ , n Staff beeome at the Brisbane Mental Hospital, that for the period 13th to 20th April 1944 the female nurses at that hospital refused duty, and the administration was greatly perturbed although managing to e-ssentia] services during that period. Various factors contributed to the serious staff shortage, not the least of which was the number of absentees. So aggravated did those °ni (!UtI become/ that> apparently as a gesture of protest at what they considered the unfair allocation of the tw0I1paiflab0U+ a.ndJtox draw Public attention to their plight, the} felt constrained to make this demonstration. A great measure of relief was effected by a number of Army nurses serving with the A.I.F. taking up duty at that hospital temporarily, and the position thus became eased. Simdarlv and for the same underlying motives, at the Toowoomba Mental Hospital since March, 1935, the staff have refused to serve m one, and sometimes two, of the female wards, and have reserved to themselves the right to nurse only the patients m those wards which they claim they can adequately staff; and this condition persists at the present juncture. The welfare of the patients in the wards concerned is being safeguarded, and they are being adequately cared for. vi- T]ie ele(;trm shock therapy treatment at the Brisbane Mental Hospital continues to function satisfactorily as also do the various other therapeutic treatments. A shock therapv machine has also been installed at the Toowoomba Mental Hospital, whilst an occupational therapy building is also under construction thereat. During the 'past twelve months one accidental death occurred, that of a female patient at the Brisbane Mental Hospital; one suicide of a male patient also occurred _ there, and another male patient who was on leave was accidentally drowned. Two births occurred at the Brisbane Mental Hospital, both female children. There was a total of 34 male and 7 female patients who escaped from the various hospitals, of whom 27 males and 7 females were returned to the hospitals concerned. In September of last year, the Australian servicemen who were under treatment in the Brisbane Mental Hospital were transferred by the military authorities to one of their own hospitals in the nearer Brisbane suburbs. A summary of the statistics of the three mental hospitals is forwarded herewith. These disclose that since the beginning of the war there has been a relative increase in the number of female patients under treatment in comparison with former years. The total admissions in 1939 numbered 621, which had increased to 649 in 1945, this increase being effected by a decrease of 3 male admissions and an increase of 31 female patients admitted. The average number of patients resident during 1939 totalled 3379, which had increased to 3602 at the end of 1945. This increase was brought about by there being 45 male patients fewer resident and 263 females more than in 1939. The ratio of males to females was 59 per cent, to 41 per cent, in 1939 as against 53 per cent, to 47 per cent, at the present time. The Rockville Home for Epileptics received six patients admitted during the year, two were discharged, whilst there were two deaths. There were 45 males, 60 females, total 105 patients of the Epileptic Home at 30th June, 1945. The school facilities at the Home, of a high standard formerly, have been further - enhanced by the provision of a manual handicrafts workshop, whose woodwork classes are conducted by an officer from the Toowoomba Technical College. The ancillary services of the Toowoomba Mental Hospital nearby are extended to cover the needs of the inmates of the Epileptic Home. Daily newspapers and periodicals are provided to the various wards throughout the mental hospitals, and the libraries are kept replenished. Entertainments are held regularly and frequently in the recreation halls at the hospitals, comprising picture shows throughout the year and dances during the cooler months; whilst concert parties frequently visit the hospitals and provide much appreciated entertainments. The religious interests of all patients are guarded at each institution, and services of various denominations are held regularly whilst some patients attend divine service in the nearby churches. The Red Cross Society has continued to supply liberal weekly supplies of cake, fruit, sweets, tobacco, cigarette papers, &c., to the returned soldier patients from both wars in the mental hospitals, whilst the local sub-branches of the R.S.S.A.I.L.A. also provide for the comfort and entertainment of these patients in each centre. During the past year, too, the 4BH Smokes for Soldiers Fund made regular weekly donations for a period to each of the ex-service patients. The canteen at the Brisbane Mental Hospital continues to function satisfactorily and it would appear to be an undoubted boon to patients and their visitors. There is a total of 600 patients having small trust accounts, of which more than half are operated on regularly through the canteen ledger sales. In addition during the month of June, there was a total of 3051 small cash sales over the counter. During the last twelve months, the average monthly turnover at the canteen was £434. The Psychiatrist finds that the ordinary amenities of life are influential to a greater degree in the treatment of patients suffering from mental illnesses than is the case in physical illness, and of recent years no effort has been spared to enhance the various aspects of physical life in the several Mental Hospitals. At the three mental hospitals, the furnishings of the nurses homes have been considerably improved, and a dining¬ room has been constructed for the male nursing staff at the Toowoomba Mental Hospital. The appointments in the general kitchen and laundries have been very largely added to, as also have those in the kitchens of the nurses homes. The transport facilities at the Brisbane Mental Hospital have been largely mechanised and arrangements are in hand for the provision of motor transport at the other mental hospitals. A tractor has been provided at the farm of the Brisbane Mental Hospital and a rotary lioe at the Ipswich Mental Hospital, whilst the vegetable gardens at the Brisbane Mental Hospital have had irrigation plants installed and the obsolete methods of hand cultivation have been discarded in addition to the benefits that resulted to the hospitals from these innovations, a very definite psychological benefit must accrue to the patients engaged in this form of occupational therapy by using modern methods and up-to-date machinery. The investigation work necessary for the establishment of the new mental hospital in Northern Queensland has further advanced, and the contraction of this hospital, as well as being of benefit to the regional population, should also tend to relieve the over-crowding in the southern mental hospitals. The construction of the repatriation block at Wacol is proceeding apace and the buildings are now taking definite shape. The appendix hereto shows items indicate of progress in medical and administrative aspects of mental hygiene, together with a list of the various works that have been undertaken, during the past seven years.