Annual report of the General Board of Commissioners in Lunacy for Scotland : 42nd 1900

  • Great Britain. General Board of Commissioners in Lunacy for Scotland.
Date:
1900
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the General Board of Commissioners in Lunacy for Scotland : 42nd 1900. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    24/260
    for Lunatics. Accidents in Asylums. Progressive History of Patients first admitted in XX Forty-second Report of the General Board of Of the deaths by suicide, 2 were due to hanging, 1 to cutting an artery in the arm with a piece of earthenware, 1 to poisoning by swallowing carbolic acid, 1 to poisoning by eating match-heads (possibly with no suicidal intent), 1 to going in front of a railway train, and 1 to burning. In two of these cases the patients were occupying single rooms at the time of the occurrence. There were two cases of attempted suicide, one by attempted drowning, and one by cutting the throat with a pocket knife. Of the 3 fatal accidents not due to suicide, 1 was caused by an acci- dental fall in the case of an aged and helpless patient, 1 by scalding in a bath, and 1 by exposure following on escape. The circum- stances of all the deaths by suicide and accident were investigated by the Crown authorities and ourselves. In 50 cases the accidents involved fracture of bones or dis- location of joints, and in 18 cases injuries to the head. These were occasioned in 47 cases by falls, in 16 cases by struggling with fellow-patients or attendants, or by assaults of fellow-patients, and from other causes 5, of which in 3 cases the cause could not be determined with certainty. There were reported, in addition, 13 accidental wounds, bruises, etc., 5 of which were more or less severe, and 8 of a slight character. In every case of death by accident, of sudden or unexpected death, or death under circumstances of apparent or alleged suspicion, occurring in an asylum, the Superintendent is required to give immediate intimation not only to the Board, but also to the Procurator-Fiscal of the county in which the asylum is situated, who makes such inquiry as he may deem necessary. PROGRESSIVE HISTORY OF PATIENTS FIRST ADMITTED INTO ESTABLISHMENTS IN THE YEAR 1898. On page xxxi of our Fourteenth Annual Report will be found a Table showing the changes which occurred among 1297 patients admitted to asylums for the first time in 1858 during that year, and the eleven subsequent years ending 1869. The results of that enquiry are further discussed on page xxxv of our Sixteenth Report. <A similar series of Tables was begun in our Eleventh Report, relating to 1326 (subsequently corrected to 1319) patients admitted for the first time in 1868. The thirtieth and last of these Tables was given in our Fortieth Report, with a discussion of the inferences which may be drawn from the results. The following is the first of a third series of such Tables dealing with the progressive history of 2539 patients admitted to asylums for the first time in 1898 :— Progressive History of Patients first admitted into Asylums in 1898. YEAR New Cases} Re-admitted during Year. 3 S38 ‘*| Admitted. _| oo a x 0's Total | £8 |85| 3 | #8 mot.c The, | Number] He] oo | = SO Once. | Twice.|Thrice. of Resa a3 rae A eee missions. = A oS 1898 2,539 71 3 vas 77 678 | 185 | 247 1,556