HC Deb 04 November 1918 vol 110 cc1807-8W
Mr. WING

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he will give the names and situation of the institutions provided by the War Office for the care and treatment of uncertifiable soldiers who have been mentally unhinged in consequence of the severity of the strain through which they have passed; how many purely mental cases are segregated in each institution; what is their occupation; how many have been discharged recovered during the present year; and in how many instances are these institutions run by lunacy staffs and presided over by mental specialists connected with lunacy organisations?

Mr. MACPHERSON

I presume my hon. Friend is referring in the first part of his question to men suffering from shell-shock and neurasthenia, and I will circulate with the OFFICIAL REPORT the names and situations of the institutions, of which there are fifteen. No purely mental cases are segregated in any institution. The occupations of the men whilst in hospital are mainly agriculture and farm work. There are also indoor occupations, such as carpentry, and also recreation and amusements. It would take a considerable time and involve a large amount of labour to ascertain the number who have been discharged as recovered, and I hope my hon. Friend will not press for this information. None of the institutions are run by lunacy staffs, but in three of them the administrator is a mental specialist.

The following is the list of institutions referred to

  • Maudsley Neurological Clearing Hospital, Denmark Hill, S.E.
  • Springfield War Hospital, Upper Tooting, S.W.
  • Red Cross Military Hospital, Maghull.
  • Abram Peel War Hospital, Bradford.
  • Ewell (County of London) War Hospital, Epsom.
  • 1st Southern General Hospital (Mony-hull Neurological Section), Birmingham.
  • Glen Lomond War Hospital, Fife, N.B. Dunblane War Hospital, Perthshire, N.B.
  • Seale Hayne Neurological Hospital, Newton Abbott, South Devon.
  • Gateshead War Hospital, Stannington, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
  • Neurological Section, 4th Southern General Hospital, Plymouth.
  • Neurological Section, 2nd Western General Hospital, Brinnington, Stock-port.
  • East Preston Military Hospital, near Worthing.
  • Neurological Section, King George V. Hospital, Dublin.
  • Ashhurst War Hospital, Littlemore, Oxford.