WILLING TO CO-OPERATE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 73, 18 May 1945, Page 5

WILLING TO CO-OPERATE

MAORIS AND MEDICAL SERVICE

CONFERENCE AT RUATOKI

Reporting back to the Whakatane Hospital Board on lri& conference, with the Maoris 'at Ruatoki on the question of hospital service and their responsibilities in that connecMr H. C. McCready gave an interesting account of the reaction of the natives to his proposals. Many of the Mt?oris t he said, were not actually paying rates but it was readily agreed that there was a growing number of Maori patients in the institution and that there were likely to be more. The Maoris had .shown quite an intelligent interest in the whole service and were up-to-date in tlieir information. The question of training their own gills as nurses was a suggestion: which, was warmly welcomed and Ire sug-t gested that this was, a most important step in the right direction with a view to lifting the general stan- r dard of living. He understood how-* 1 ever that the Board had no framed policy with regard to the training of Maori girls and contended that it would be doing a great dis-service to place anything in the way of ■ bringing Maori trainees into the hospital. If we wanted the Maori standard of life to be raised how could we expect it unless we ccoperated. The chairman (Mr L. Buddie), said he knew of no reason why Maori trainees would not be as. open for training as anyone else Mr McCready went 011 to say that the conference had been most successful and that the Maori Council had undertaken to go further into the question of meeting their obliga-i tions and would report back later.