THE SICK AND THE AILING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 955, 24 October 1910, Page 3

THE SICK AND THE AILING.

■~.--■"■.■■-■•:;—.;;";..;; ; ».:.;;;.:;■;,;.;;::;;\; -; ;SOME:VALyABL_"sUGG_STIONS. : .. A-number,'of-subjects which should engage the attention of Hospital Boards during..tlie year are outlined by/the. In-spector-General of Hospitals in his annual report. The first of .these'deals lyith the,, fixing /of., the base ■ for the operations of;the board ,and>.Dr. Valin-, tine recommends, that this should be tho largest hospital of: the district, and the board's offices should -bo-.'as''handy to this hospital as is possible. Bytliis means the'cost coadministration should be lessened, as it would tend to prevent reduplication of the clerical staff.- The board's secretary .would be.in touch with the various executive officers) and therefore hotter able to supervise the conduct of the' institution.. :.-■:: : -.Z ■ '•■: ;.U ' ■■: Frbmthe parent or base hospital patients could be',drafted to .suitable outlying institutions—the, chronic ward, the old people's home,;,the. convalescent home,'.etc. - /Nurses'could also, be drafted to staff such'outlying.'mstitutions, including, tho small .country "hospitals. By this, means their'training would be more varied, and would better: quality ..them for administrative'work. It would enable nurses, who would otherwise have to be trained' in country hospitals; ; to -obtain the "maaa," of,: having been i trained m a .large hospital. ■ The'larger boards are now: working in this direction'. •■", ' 'i : ; ■■; ;. ;.-..■■ : ■ .. .'_' . .The'larger hospital,districts should, in Dr. 'Valintine's bpinion, be selfrcont-ained —i.e.,.should .he. .in' a position- to provide' accommodation for all classes of .the..'.sic_-a__' needy.in suitable parts-of the district, viz;:—-j v , ,(a) The. acutely sick; including:—(l) The. sick infant; .'(2) the mentally defective (awaiting examination); (3) the delirium tremens patient; (4) the venereal patient. .- These classes have been hitherto somewhat neglected. ■ (b) The chronic, and incurable. (c)-The "infectious" patient, (d) The consumptive— (1) Curable; (2) incurable. A special branch, of: the out-patient .'departmeiiv might he devoted to ; encouraging .persons in the pre-phthisicaJ stages .to seek advice.. Such measures, combined .with' a system of district nursing, might do good work in : the'fight;against this disease. -(e): The maternity patient—(l) By outside medical attendance; (2) by disitriot'(midwife) nurses; (3) by. maternity wards to certain hospitals, (f) The aged and need —(1) Indoor and outdoor relief, (g) The out-patient; by means of a special department attached to the hospital, in conjunction with a system of district nursing. ' A district riurse in touch with; an out-patient department; could do great work in visiting those persons who are receiving treatment as oMt-patents, or who have recently been disonarged from the hospital, in seeing that they are conforming to the treatment prescribed, and that they are living under sanitary conditions. Such a, district nurse would also visit 'those oases of measles and whooping-cough which aro necessarily excluded from tho hospitals, and advise mothers as to tho feeding of their children and tho general hygiene of their homo, I