The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1946 PAYING THE PIPER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 9, 9 August 1946, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1946 PAYING THE PIPER

MEMBERS of Hospital Boards find themselves in- an unenviable position. All over New Zealand the experience is the same —the hospitals are crowded and are inadequate to cope with the demands made upon them, and more and more accommodation and services are being demanded. The reaction of the general public as a rule is one of cynical criticism. The complaint is that the public have insufficient control over Hospital Boards in the matter of expenditure, and the cry has been raised that Hospital Boards should live within their income. How the unfortunate Hospital Board members are to give effect to these wishes is not indicated, nor is it mentioned that since the introduction of Social Security with free hospital attention to all who seek it, the problem handed by the Government to Hospital Boards,

and, subsequently, of course, to individual ratepayers, is one that is growing into alarming proportions far beyond the realm of expectation when Social Security and innumerable “free” benefits were, with other “gifts,” handed to the electors of New Zealand on a silver salver on a memorable occasion. Today the general public is coming to a realisation that they cannot, in this world, get anything for nothing, and whatever services and benefits are enjoyed have to be paid for like anything else. Local authorities and Hospital Board members are wise therefore in throwing the whole responsibility on the Government. It is the system that is at fault not the members of this—or any other— Hospital Board and it is for the Government of the day to accept that responsibility. By the introduction of Social Security, the health of the people has become a nation-wide undertaking and the cost of these services should therefore be borne as equally as possible by the country as a whole. While this is not done, Hospital Boards must continue to find themselves in an almost untenable position. If the State decrees that hospital and medical services shall be free, then surely it is the'duty of the State, and not groups of ratepayers, to provide such services? To most reasonable people the answer would appear obvious and the sooner the proposals of the Select Parliamentary Committee are given effect to, the better. What is only now being realised, however, is that the Government was not giving away the general taxpayers’ money when it introduced many additional health benefits, so much as that of the ratepayers in different localities. Just so long as these benefits last—and we are not arguing that they should cease—they must constitute an ever-increasing burden, and the time has. long passed when the full responsibility should be accepted by the Government.