BRITISH ARMY (MENTAL NURSING ORDERLIES) (Hansard, 21 May 1946)

§ Wing-Commander Hulbert (Stockport)
I am glad to raise a matter tonight which is of great importance to the young men called up to the Services, and also to their relatives. I refer to the employment of young soldiers without any previous experience as orderlies in lunatic asylums looking after military psychiatric cases, which are of a distressing nature. I was first acquainted with War Office policy on this matter by one of my constituents, whose name I will not mention in order to save further misery to his parents. Early this year I received a letter from this boy's mother saying that her son, then 19 years of age, had been called up, and after a short course of infantry training had been posted as an orderly at the Banstead Mental Hospital, which I know—I have visited it—is an appalling institution. It is old and antiquated and contains something like 1,500 civilian mental patients and 400 or 500 military patients. I regret to say it is a fact that these two classes of patients are not adequately kept apart. This boy, whose working life had been spent in a factory in the North-West of England, had never previously seen a lunatic or a corpse. The effect of his duties on his mind can well be imagined They had the inevitable result that after a comparatively short time he felt, to use his own words, that he was "going crackers, too," and he went absent without leave.
We know that if a man goes absent without leave he very shortly runs out of money. This young boy found himself in that state, with the result that he committed one or two fairly minor crimes, and was, in due course, charged at the Manchester City Sessions before the learned Recorder, Sir Noel Goldie, a 291 former member of this House. In spite of this boy's offences, the learned Recorder was so impressed by the story he told the court that he sentenced him only to a nominal term of imprisonment—two days —which meant that he was handed over to an escort to be tried by court-martial for being absent without leave. This boy, still only 20 years old, was subsequently tried by district court-martial at Chelsea Barracks. I attended the trial, which was a fair one. For being absent without leave, in spite of the fact that he had been absent from his duties for several months, he only received a sentence of 28 days' detention, the whole of which was remitted by the General Officer Commanding London District, which in itself is an interesting commentary on the view some authorities took of this case.
After the trial, this boy was posted overseas to B.A.O.R., since when he has been very happy and is a most efficient soldier, I understand, which again proves that this previous trouble of being absent without leave was entirely due to the work he had been engaged upon. I want to be fair to the Financial Secretary to the War Office, with whom I have taken up this case. I have had much correspondence with him. He has taken up this matter and treated it in the most courteous way, for which I thank him. I understand that the attitude of the War Office is that, while in the particular case to which I have referred an unsatisfactory posting was made, in general it all works out very well, and nothing untoward happens. I am afraid that most hon. Members will not subscribe to that view. To call up a young man who has spent his whole working life in a factory, and suddenly to put him in charge of lunatics, without ensuring that he has any aptitude whatever for that work, seems to me a very odd way of doing things. I understand that the War Office also take the view that this boy did not leave his unit, did not leave this institution and go absent without leave until he had been taken off his duties a., a mental orderly. I accept that view, but when he was taken off his duties as a mental orderly he was put on what the hospital are pleased to call general duties, which are, if possible, even more unpleasant because they involve looking after the sanitation of the civilian lunatics as well.
292 I realise that there is today a difficulty in staffing these mental hospitals to which military patients are sent. I suggest to the War Office that this difficulty might be overcome to some extent by arranging that the Ministry of Health or the local authorities should be made completely responsible for looking after this extremely distressing type of case. I have seen many young men suffering from mental disease solely because they have had a mental breakdown. I have visited this institution and I have seen this boy many times. I have seen others employed in a similar way. It is nothing less than a scandal that boys called up to serve their King and country should be posted to this work without adequate safeguards as to their aptitude or their suitability for it. While appreciating the helpful attitude which the War Office have taken in this case, I would like to say two more things. First, I want to emphasise that once this boy got away from this work, he behaved himself and became a perfectly efficient soldier, and secondly, I hope the Financial Secretary, when replying, will be able to give the House an assurance that, if this type of posting is to continue, the very greatest care will be taken in the selection of those who are sent to these jobs. Alternatively, I hope he will be able to find a means of maintaining these extremely unfortunate mental cases in hospitals which are quite away from military discipline or War Office control.

§ The Financial Secretary to the War Office (Mr. Bellenger)
I am grateful to the hon. and gallant Gentleman for the reasonable and almost factual way in which he has presented this case, although there are one or two small points which I think do not quite accord with the true position. I am advised that in this particular hospital there is no contact between the military side and the civil side as far as the mental patients are concerned. It is true that we have some of our soldiers who are mentally sick in these hospitals. Every endeavour, of course, is made to keep them entirely separate from the civilian patients and I had hoped that that was so. As regards this case, it is only fair to say that this soldier, the constituent of the hon. and gallant Gentleman, did volunteer for these particular duties. Indeed, it is our plan and purpose only to accept volunteers for this unpleasant duty, 293 as we believe that only the volunteers will make willing and suitable workers in these jobs—

§ Wing-Commander Hulbert
The hon. Gentleman says that this boy volunteered. I would like to ask whether the nature of the duties was explained to him, or whether he was just asked if he would like to volunteer to go to a hospital.

§ Mr. Bellenger
The drill, when these young soldiers are called up, is that they go before a personnel selection officer, who decides what he thinks they would best be fitted for. Obviously we have to staff the Royal Army Medical Corps with the intake now being called up, and the personnel selection officer thought that this young man would make a suitable nursing orderly. I do not suppose that, at that actual period, he was told that he would be selected for mental nursing duties, but he was informed later on of the nature of those duties, and, indeed, was given a course of training. I must say that, as a result of that training, he was found to be not a happy selection for this particular job, because he failed in the course that he took, and, although he was given a longer period to pass the test, he failed in that, too, and eventually, as a result of that, he was reverted to general nursing duties. It is true that he remained at the hospital itself, and did ordinary duties not connected with actual mental nursing, and it was only after he had been doing this general duty for a month that he went absent. Whether it is true, as the hon. and gallant Gentleman said, that the surroundings were enough to get him down or not, I do not know, but I should have thought that, as the hon. and gallant Gentleman represented, if it was a momentary aberration, he would not have stayed away for three months. However that may be, he had to be brought before a court-martial, and, as the hon. and gallant Gentleman stated, he was given a fair trial and received a sentence of only 28 days' detention, which was remitted.
When the case was brought to my notice,.I called for a report of the proceedings of the court-martial, because I wanted to look closely at the evidence, although, of course, I could not interfere, and did not want to interfere, with the court-martial proceedings. It would not have been fair for me to do so. As a result of looking at those proceedings, and in view of the representations made by 294 the hon. and gallant Member, I suggested to the appropriate authority at the War Office that it might be better if this man were taken away from that milieu and sent somewhere else, where he could redeem this temporary misdemeanour, and so it has happened. As the hon. and gallant Gentleman said, the man has been sent to B.A.O.R., and is quite happy in the duties he performs.

§ Wing-Commander Hulbert
I only wish to apologise to the hon. Gentleman for not giving him the credit.

§ Mr. Bellenger
I thought the hon. and gallant Gentleman did pay me tribute when he referred to my courtesy in these proceedings. I do not want to take particular credit for it. All I want to endeavour to show to the House is that the War Office is not a soulless machine, at any rate, under its present auspices, and that we do pay attention to the letters written to us by individual hon. Members. I merely mention that to show to the hon. and gallant Member, who, I think, thoroughly understands, and to the House, that this particular case was reviewed sympathetically, and that, as a result of that consideration, the man was given a job more in keeping with his general make-up.
As to the general position, I agree with the hon. and gallant Gentleman that we should be very careful in the selection of these nursing orderlies. We have to staff the medical side of the Army, and it is an unfortunate fact, and a very regrettable fact, that there are some of our soldiers who are mentally sick and who have to be looked after. We would prefer that this duty should be undertaken by the local authorities, or some civil authority; certainly not by the military side. We think it is our duty to look after these unfortunate soldiers, and the only way we can do it, at the present time, is by providing military staff to look after them. We take considerable trouble, as indeed we must and ought to do, before we select young men to undertake these duties. It is not a job that most people want. We have tried to recruit civilians to do this work, but we have been unsuccessful. Unfortunately, that situation does not only arise in the Army; it arises in civil institutions, too. We have endeavoured to train some of our young men for this work and we have 295 aimed at a target of about 40 recruits a month. We have not been successful in that, although we have been able to get 15 to 20 men. It is a matter of trial and error.
For two years I was co-opted on to the Mental Hospital Committee of the London County Council some years ago, and I must say that it is most depressing work even for those people who, like myself, had to look after, or take part in looking after, some of these institutions. Somebody has to do the job and we have to find the people from somewhere. I submit that for the moment only in the Army can we find the people to look after those of our soldiers who have become mentally sick and for whom we are morally responsible. I can assure the House that we take every care in selecting the personnel for these somewhat unpleasant duties. We give training which will enable them to carry out their job properly and suitably. As I have said, we try to find volunteers because only they can really do this work.
Negotiations are now going on between the War Office, the Board of Control and the local authorities to arrange for the treatment of military patients in military Wings of civil mental hospitals. I hope —although how long it will be before my hope comes to fruition I do not know—that, eventually, these military Wings of civil hospitals will be staffed entirely by civilian nursing personnel. When these arrangements can be made, it will, of course, considerably ease our situation in the Army. The House may be interested to know that since March, 1945, 508 mental nursing orderlies have been released from the Army out of a total of 296 1,161—nearly 50 per cent. That has meant that the establishments in the Army have been left 40 per cent. below their proper figures. In these circumstances, I am afraid that, although we agree that the minimum age should be somwhere nearer 20, as, I believe, is the case in the civilian service, there are occasions when we get men a little younger than that who are prepared to undertake this almost thankless task and who turn out to be not only very efficient and useful soldiers, but very humane and comradely in looking after their less fortunate comrades.
I do not think it is necessary for me to say anything more on either the particular case or the general issue. The hon. and gallant Member said that, so far as the particular case is concerned, he is satisfied that the man received adequate treatment I hope the House will agree with me that, so far as the general issue is concerned, the War Office are doing all they can to safeguard the interest, not only of the mental orderlies themselves, but of the patients whom they look after.

§ Mr. Jennings (Sheffield, Hallam)
It a young man below 20 years of age was asked to undertake this job, would special care be taken to see that he was suitable for it, because below that age is a little young for this type of work?

§ Mr. Bellenger
I think I can give that assurance. We know only too well—and this case illustrates the point—that it is no good directing men into this job, because, if they are not suitable or if they do not like it, nothing can hold them to it.