Nineteenth annual report of the medical superintendent of the lunatic asylum, for the counties of Salop and Montgomery, and for the boroughs of Wenlock, Shrewsbury, and Oswestry. 1863 / [Salop and Montgomeryshire Counties Lunatic Asylum].

  • Salop and Montgomeryshire Counties Lunatic Asylum.
Date:
1864
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Nineteenth annual report of the medical superintendent of the lunatic asylum, for the counties of Salop and Montgomery, and for the boroughs of Wenlock, Shrewsbury, and Oswestry. 1863 / [Salop and Montgomeryshire Counties Lunatic Asylum]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    warm and dry. Though, fires are kept up daily through the winter in the associated sleeping rooms, at either end, hardly any portion of the wall is free from moisture. We hope that they will soon be put to other purposes. Other changes since the last visit have comprised, the paint¬ ing of the lower part of the walls throughout the house; the alter¬ ations of all the windows in No. 3, as suggested in the former entry; the construction of a new padded room in Male Ward bib. 6; the better ventilation of hTo. 5 galleries, where the more troublesome Patients in both divisions sleep, by which they have been rendered more pure and wholesome. The placing of a new Bath in each fSTo. 5 ward; and of a new eight-day clock in hfo. 6, it being proposed gradually to supply others; and the finishing of the laundry, the latter has since worked with fair efficiency; hut considering the limited number of women available for it, it is highly desirable that washing machines, and a small engine to turn them, should be pro¬ vided. We are glad to find that since the new laundry was opened the body linen of the Patients has been changed twice a week. The admissions since the visit of the 31st. January 1862, has | been 132; 70 men and 62 women. The discharges have been 57 ; ' 28 men and 29 women; of whom, 48 had recovered, 7 were relieved and 2 were not improved. The deaths have been 38 ; 21 men and 17 women, of whom the majority died from general Paralysis, Phthisis, Epilepsy and exhaustion. One of these deaths calling for special mention was that of a man brought here in a dying state, having become delirious under injuries inflicted upon him by the keeper of a public house, and who died soon after his admission; the man who inflicted the injuries is now waiting his trial for man¬ slaughter; that being the verdict delivered at the inquest. The numbers now in the Asylum, and whom we have seen to-day, are 393; on the male side 186 and on the female side 207, hut there are ten additional names on the hooks, of 7 men and 3 women, who have been lately sent on trial to their Unions. These numbers show that the Asylum, supposed to afford space for 390 patients, has an excess of thirteen upon its books; but this estimate is beyond its capability of comfortable accommodation, as is shown by the present condition of the dormitories. There is therefore an immediate necessity of meeting a want which will shortly become very pressing; either by relieving the Institution from a portion of its present inmates or by additional buildings. Eestraint is not used here. The instances of seclusions, which continue to be most frequent on the women’s side, have not