Years Of Discussion And Negotiation Brought To An End

Chronicle (Levin), 7 April 1949, Page 6

Years Of Discussion And Negotiation Brought To An End

"The order for tlie 'cease fiie in the battle-of the sites' has been given today, " declared the chairma'n of the New Plymouth Hospital Board (Mr. P. E. Stainton) at a meeting of the "Western ' Hospital Districts' Joint Sanatorium Committee in Palmerston North yesterday after -the committee by resolution agreed to acquire a -site of 80 acres in Liverpool Street, Levin, for the proposed new sanatorium. This decision brings to an end years' of protraeted discussions and negotiations for a suitahle area of land for the project. ' The site cliosen is one selected by the committee some months ago, -but negotiations were delayed by the requirements of the owners of the land, Messrs Thos. Borthwick and Sons Limited, that some alternative land should be found for them for use as holdmg paddocks. As a result of further negotiations hetween the company, the committee, the Government and the Levin JBorough Council the difficulties have been eliminated and the way is now clear for the committee to acquire the site. • On the motion of Mr. H. F. Toogood (Wellington) it was decided to apply to the Health Depaftment f orthwith fpr permis- - sion to draw up plans for the new building which ongmaiiy was ooBmntPd' t.n cost in the vicinity of £500,000."

For the purpose of arriving at a policy in regard to the size and scope of the new sanatorium, the committee pi'ior to its quarterly meeting held a conference with tuberculosis officers and speciaiists and representatives of jonstituent hospital boards. Also pre(ent were the Director of the iuberculosis Division of the Depixrtment of Health (Dr. C. Taylor), and Dr. 11. S. K. Francis, travelling Tb officer for ,the eastern districts (Pukeora). Each. hospital board gave a survey of its existing tuberculosis aecomruudation, its demand for accommodation and prospective santorium accommodation requirements, the figures in nearly every instance showing a tendency to gross overcrowding in the tubercuiOSj-S . sections of the hospitals. _ j There appeared to be two distinct ; schools of thought as to the categoij of tuberculosis patient that should be j aceommodated in the new sanatorium ; One maintained that only ambulatoij i patients (that is, patients up for more thau four hours dailv) should be seni ; to the sanatorium. The other consiuer-j ed that tliq sanatorium should manei provision for taking patients at an ; early stage of the disease so that col-j lapse therapy could be carried out Dy : speciaiists. There was no apparent unanimity as to wlietlier the sanatorium should in-j clude a cliest hospital section, althougii i a majority appeared to favour such a ! course. • i Another important issne was the j need for some agreed policy in estao-j lishing a formula for the number of j beds to be provided in the sanatorium. j In some cases the number of beds has i been aijsessed in ratio to the number of deaths from tuberculosis and in others on the basis of so many beds per thousand of population. A tliird suggestion was that a formula should be based on the number of active tuberculosis cases in the district, say 40 or 50 per cent. of the known "active c-ases. One estimate of the known needs of the western districts was 240 additionai hospital beds for tuberculosis patients at hospitals, 1S9 beds in sanatoria anu 186 beds in chest hospitals. Another estimate was that the new sanatorium should provide 320 beds for chest hospital aud ambulant patients. To arrive at some authoritative basis of computation it was unanimously decided to set up a speeialist sub-eom-mittee to correlate the information given to the conference, to niake a detailed examination of the districts ' requirements and to bring down a report with recommendations to the Western Districts' Committee. Members of this sub-eommittee are: Drs. C. F. Wilson (medical superintenaent Otaki Sanatorium), J. Willis (tb officer Palmerston North Hospital), K. W. Priest (tb officer Wanganui Hospi tal), J. J. Cairney (medical superm-

tendent Wellington Hospital), R. Wilson (tb speeialist and senior physician New Plymouth Hospital), MoLean (Wellington Hospital), C. R. Lamoert (medical superintendent Hawera- Hospital and representing * country hospitals), and Mr. A. J. Phillipps (manag-ing-secretary Palmerston North Hospital). The Health Department is to be requested to permit Dr. C. Taylor to be associated with the sub-committee in an advisory .eapacity. This sub-committee met immediately after the conference and vvill hold further consultatlons. Figures quoted to the conference were as follow: — WELLINGTON: 10S9 registered cases of tuberculosis,- 203 of which J were active. Only 76 Maori patients.' The number of available beds was 180 and the accommodation was grossly overtaxed at -times. Required 120 beds for a new chest hospital and the renovation of the Ewart and Victoria, bloeks reducing the number of existing1 beds to 120. Wellington would require, 80 beds in the new sanatorium. i PALMERSTON NORTH: 484 cases, 264 classified as active, 166 Maoris. ( Hospital had 41 beds for tb; patients but total number of occupied beds was to 50 at times. A proposed new biock would provide 60 beds. - WANGANUI: 324 cases, 113 active, 138 Maoris. Hospital provided 2k beds, but over past' few years up to 35 and 40 beds had been required. It was proopsed that 60 beds should be provided eventually. The need for beas was indicated by the length of time patients had to wait to get sanatorium beds. NEW PLYMOUNTH: 375 cases, 108 active, 152 Maoris. Only 26 beds available and accommodation always overtaxed with the numbers up to about 50 at times. Requiresd another 16 to 18 beds in the sanatorium. Number of extra beds projected at the hospital was nil although the hospital hacl asked for a tb bloelt providing 20 becls. TAUMARUNUI: 100 cases, 67 cases and 17 children under 16 years of age. No offieial accommodation available for tb patients bqt eight beds had been squeezed out of the general waras. Average tb occupied beds over past few years had been 12. The hospital hopeu to get a tuberculosis annexe. Would require 15 beds in the sanatorium. HAWERA: 114 cases, 45 active, 48 Alaoris. * No special aceomnjodation for tb cases which were lioused m isolation ward. If this ward shoulu be required for infectious diseases tb easds ujould have to be turned out. There were 28 known active- cases wandering about the district. Required 2C beds in the sanatorium. STRATFORD: 32 cases, 10 active, No tb beds. The surgical treatment carried out at New Plymouth Hospital. Two or three beds required in new sanatorium^

PATEA: 40 cases, 16 Maoris. No beds available but a few cases nnxsed on hospital verandahs. Required six beds in the hospital and six in the new sanatorium. Dr. R. S. R. Francis, travelling, tuberculosis officer ' for the eastern districts (Pukeora), was invited to . address the conference and said that in his opinion any policy to make the new sanatorium purely a convalescent home would be a retrograte step. - The tb patients should be under speeialist care and control from as early a stage as possible. He , thought future sanatoria policy would "be to have patients admitted as early as possible and given speeialist trearment as soon as possible. The trend. overseas was toward collapse therapy and not so much chest surgery. I i the Health Department' s policy of mobile X-ray units was implemented it would meaa a big differenoe in the numbers going forward for treat- - ment. The country areas had yet-to be explored and the searcih would uncover a great many Maori sufl'erers not yet known ahout. The problem was, perhaps, not quite

so pressing in centres such as Wellington and Palmerston North where chest surgery clinics were established anct where the patients could be given coilapse therapy before going on to sanatoria, but he did not think it was rignt that in country areas the patients should be up for four or more hours daily while waiting for admittanee to sanatoria. Mr. P. E. Stainton (New Plymouth): Would' it overcome the objection SH patients from country areas were sent to the nearest large hospital? Dr. Francis: Not altogether, beeause most hospitals are overfull with their own cases. Despite the figures quoted by each hospital 's representative, however, there was not general agreement that such was the case in western districts. Mr. H. F. Toogood said it appeareci that while the metropolitan hospitals could carry on with existing facilities, country hospitals beeause of shortag6 of accommodation and speeialist faeili- - ties were operating under serious disadvantages. "We eannot say that we are • going to consider only those", patients who are ambulatory for foii'hours or more," he said. "Our job is to consider the whole question and we will have to decide what size sanatorium to build. " Dr. R. W. Priest (Wanganui) snir' he was a great believer in sanatorium treatment beeause he felt patients responded much better there. While hp would endeavour to keep chrome chest • cases in hospital, he thought all wnr | could be aceommodated should go intc j a sanatorium. Dr. Taylor, of the Health DepartI ment, addressed the conference in committee. u