Seventy-fourth annual report of the Royal Edinburgh Asylum for the insane. 1886.

  • Royal Edinburgh Asylum.
Date:
[1887]
    The account of the Treasurer’s Intromissions with the funds of the Corporation for the past year is herewith submitted ; The Charge amounting to . . . . £43,793 14 8 The Discharge to .... 40,757 13 10 And the Balance in favour of the Corporation to £3,036 0 10 The Ordinary Be venue for the year 1886 from all departments was.£42,710 4 6 The Ordinary Expenditure (including instalment towards fund for paying debt on West House, as approved by the Court) was . . . . 38,684 3 0 And the Surplus Income . . £4.026 1 6 Of the above surplus, it appears from the accounts that there was derived from the East House . . . £3,28312 4 And from the West House . . . 742 9 2 Surplus, as before . . . £4,026 1 6 The Managers have out of the above surplus revenue from the West House paid the balance of the cost of additions to the female wing, and other extra expenditure for the West House, amounting to £460 19s. 7d. The total liabilities of the Corporation at 31st December 1886 amounted to ...... £35,963 19 2 At 31st December 1885 they stood at . 42,014 13 0 Showing a decrease of . . £6,050 13 10 This decrease represents the surplus ordinary revenue and the arrears of board recovered mostly from the Metropolitan Parishes. Although there has been a slight decline in the cost of provi¬ sions during the year, the Managers do not consider it sufficient to justify them in making any reduction in the rate of board for the current year, which for paupers will continue at £33 10s., as at present. The Managers in their last Report stated the reasons which had
    compelled them to adopt proceedings against the parishes of the City and St. Cuthberts for recovery of the boards of pauper patients at the rate which they considered they were entitled to. A remit having been made by the Court to Mr James Haldane, C. A., he, on 16th March last, reported that he considered .£33 10s., the rate sued for, to be a fair and reasonable rate of board. A debate having followed on this Report, Lord Kinnear, on 22nd June, in both actions pronounced Interlocutors in favour of the Asylum with expenses ; and the defenders having reclaimed, Lord Kinnear’s judgment was on 25th November confirmed by the Second Division of the Inner House. It is the pleasing duty of the Managers to have to record, that they have since last Annual Meeting received intimation of a legacy of £5000, with residue, bequeathed to them by the late Mrs Elizabeth Bevan, who resided at No. 4 Heriot Row. In the words of the benevolent testatrix, the money is to be held by the Managers of the Asylum, “and their successors in office, in trust “ for the benefit and relief of insane persons in the said Asylum, “ who, from their rank in society or education and habits, cannot “ properly be associated with paupers, but whose means are insuf- “ ficient for defraying the expense of their comfortable mainten- “ ance in said Asylum conformably to their station and habits, “ though their mental condition be such as to render it desirable “ that they should be placed in such an institution.” Careful provision is made by the testatrix for the application of the whole annual income for the benefit of insane persons of the class referred to, in no case more than £40 being allowed for any one patient, and the fund not being allowed to operate in any manner, “ so as “ to lessen the burden upon parishes or other public bodies legally “ liable for the support of paupers and others in the Asylum.” This is much the most munificent bequest which has yet been made to the Corporation, and will fall to be administered by the Charity Committee under a special account kept for the “Bevan Fund.” The Managers expect to receive part of the legacy at Whitsunday next, after which the Charity Committee will have it in their power to carry out the beneficent intentions of the testatrix, by granting allowances in supplement of the boards of
    many deserving patients whose friends have at present great dif¬ ficulty in providing for them in a suitable way. It is interesting to record that Mrs Bevan was one of the daughters of Dr Andrew Duncan, Junior, Professor of Medical Jurisprudence, and thereafter of Materia Medica, in the University of Edinburgh, one of the first Physicians in Ordinary to the Asy¬ lum, and always a warm supporter of the claims of the institution, and she was a granddaughter of Dr Andrew Duncan, Senior, Pro¬ fessor of the Institutes of Medicine in the University of Edin- burgh, who, when President of the Poyal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1792, brought forward the first scheme for the establishment of a Public Asylum for Edinburgh, and more than any other single individual may be regarded as the Founder of the Poyal Edinburgh Asylum, on the Medical Board of which his name is the first which appears. The Asylum was visited by Dr Arthur Mitchell, one of Her Majesty’s Commissioners, in the beginning of March, and by Dr John Sibbald, also one of the Commissioners, in the month of June. Dr Mitchell reports as follows with reference to the changes which have been carried out at the Asylum :—“ At every “ visit to the Asylum during the past ten or eleven years, large “ numbers of workmen were found busily engaged in making im- “ portant structural changes on the buildings. No workmen are “ now about the Asylum. The extensive changes which were “ entered on ten years ago with so much courage are completed. “ These changes were carefully considered, and the course which “ seemed best was adopted without timidity. The result cannot “ fail to be most gratifying to the Directors and to the Superin- * “ tendent. Incalculable advantages have been conferred by them “ on the insane. These advantages have reached all classes, but “ they have perhaps reached the pauper class with greatest em- “ pliasis. With as much intelligence as boldness, the Directors “ have done their utmost to make the institution fulfil its high “ purposes in as efficient a manner as was possible. They have “ spent large sums of money, but there has been no unwise or “ undesirable expenditure. The whole community—rich and poor “ —has been benefited in an important manner by what has been
    “ done. The growing prosperity of the Asylum, the increased “ amount of good work it is doing, and the wide-spread confidence “ in its management, are, no doubt, regarded by the Directors as “ a sufficient reward.” The following sentences are taken from the Deport of Dr Sibbald on the occasion of his visit:—“ The general condition of “ the patients at present is very satisfactory. Very little mental “ excitement was manifested during the visit either among male “ or female patients; and this is especially worthy of notice in an “ Asylum which contains a more than usually large proportion of “ patients suffering from recent and acute forms of insanity. But, “ indeed, everything which was ascertained during the visit goes “ to show that the treatment which the patients receive is of a “ very efficient kind. There seems little reason to doubt that, in “ addition to the very careful and skilful medical treatment which “ they receive, the large amount of outdoor employment and exer- “ cise which they enjoy contributes materially to their benefit. “ The liberality of the general dietary must also, however, have “ an important influence. The quantities of the various articles “ of food consumed by private and pauper patients respectively, “ and also the details of each meal for the past week, were en- “ quired into with the most satisfactory result; and the dinners “ which the patients received during the visit were excellent in “ quality, and well cooked. “ All parts of the Asylum were found in excellent order.” The Managers have little to report in reference to the internal history of the Asylum during the past year. They have again to record their obligations to Dr Clouston, the respected head of the institution, and his subordinates, for the unwearied care and attention displayed by them in their respective spheres. The Annual Deport of the Charity Committee is herewith sub¬ mitted, showing that 62 patients have during the past year derived more or less benefit from this philanthropic scheme. The Mana¬ gers have again exercised their privilege of voting a sum of £200 from the surplus revenue towards this charity. (Signed) JA. ADTHUD CDICHTON, Chairman.
    3 REPOET OF THE CHARITY COMMITTEE OF MANAGERS OF THE ROYAL EDINBURGH ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31st DECEMBER 1886. The Account of the Treasurer’s Intromissions with the Charity Fund is herewith submitted :— The Charge amounting to.<£687 2 5 The Discharge to. 624 2 2 And the Balance in hand to. <£63 0 3 The Fund, including the above Balance, amounts to.£9,313 0 3 For the year ending 31st December 1885 the Fund amounted to. 9,358 2 10 Showing a Decrease of. £45 2 7 The Ordinary Income on invested moneys during the year was.£354 4 7 The Ordinary Expenditure was. 624 2 2 Showing excess of Expenditure over Income...£269 17 7 The number of patients relieved during the year was 62, and the number on the roll at the close of the year 47. (Signed) JAMES LEWIS, Chairman.