HOSPITAL AT TRENTHAM

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2353, 8 January 1915, Page 6

HOSPITAL AT TRENTHAM

AN APPEAL TO THE PUBLIC MEDICAL MEN TAKE ACTION CARING FOB OUR SOLDIERS Particulars of a scheme under which 1 it is proposed to establish a military base hospital for New Zealand at Trentham Camp are given in the following circular issued on behalf of the New Zealand branch-of the British Medical Association by Dr. J. S. Elliott (chairman of the council of that body)i "As the result of an interview between the Council of the British Medical Association (New Zealand Branch) and the , Commandant of the New Zealand Forces, it has been mado abundantly clear that'there is urgent need of a military base hospital for New Zealand, and it is proposed to establish such a hospital at- Trentham, which is the standing ' camp for the whole of New Zealand.. "This camp will presently _ contain 3600 men, and it will continue in existence certainly for a period of two years. It:is not only a mobilisation camp, but also a demobilisation camp, so that men who ;have been/invalided at the war will be discharged at Trentham and not indiscriminately in various parts of New Zealand or England, thus improving on the conditions which prevailed in Tespcct of military discharges after the Boer War. • .' ' A Huge Camp. "At present serious cases are sent to the Wellington Public Hospital, and this practice will continue; but it is obvious that in a huge camp like Trentham. there will be many cases of a less serious kind;;--including convalescents, that will require hospital accommodation' and treatment in the camp under . the' charge of-military doctors and orderlies. : The Government proposes immediately to build a: small camp hospital, and. the Medical Association is con- , fident, with the help of the publio and the Press, of raising sufficient moneyto increase the - hospital. accommodation and equipment to the full extent required: , "The buildings in the proposed base hospital at Trentham will be cheap .temporary buildings of wood and iron, and there will be no extravaganco. "Even if the Wellington Public Hospital tvpro large, enough_ to accommodate -minor :as well as serious cases, .the * cost to the Defence Department would be'very great; so that the hospital makes not only for efficiency i but for economv. "The. effect of the establishment of such a hospital will be immediately apparent in the. increased comfort and well-being of 'our soldiers, and the knowledge that adequate provision is being made will allay much of the anxiety that now exists in the minds of the soldiers' relatives. . ; "Subscriptions for this humane and urgently needed work should be sent to Dr. Tolhurst, the local hon. treasurer of the New Zealand branch of the Medical Association, and by him will be. i acknowledged, through the Press and- • transmitted to'the general treasurer in Wellington to swell the Patriotic Fund, though ear-marked for this special pose."--The Sum Required. ■ Dr. Elliott informed a Dominion representative that-the sum required was about £2000, of which a part would be contributed. by the members of the Medical Association. The proposed hospital, he remarked, was an absolute necessity; It would not only provide accommodation for such minor cases of sickness at appeared in the camp, but would be utilised to ensure the proper treatment of convalescents returning from the front. Given the_ hospital, instead of Being'dealt with in a haphaz- . ard way, .these men would be kept under observation until the nature of their injuries had been appraised. Their comfort and proper care would thus be en- - sured. The ■ members of the Medical Association are making arrangements under which Bix or seven doctors at least will always be available as an hospital staff; The .hospital proposals of coiirso fit in. with the Defence Department scheme under whioh Trentham may ultimately/develop into a , permanent camp.