HOSPITAL FINANCE AND CONTROL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2830, 22 July 1916, Page 8

HOSPITAL FINANCE AND CONTROL

• Tb£ dissatisfaction which exists among the local bodies which have to. contribute:to the support of the Wellington Public • Hospital is becoming more-and more pronounced; Year'after year-protests have been mads regarding the weight of the financial burdca, and yet the levy becomes -heavier every- year. Some of the local bodies deelarc that their •hospital 'contribution's are becoming' too Keavv "to be" borne, and that the load must be lightened. The Chairman of the Board admits .that the cost of the Hospital is becoming ruinous to some of the contributing bodies, but h-j : does not agree with those who contend that there has been a tendency to extravagance. But why is it that the Wellington Hospital costs more than the hospitals in" other parts of the Dominion 1 And why should the eost of maintenance' per head of population have jumped from 45.. 2d. in 1911-12 to 9s. sd. in 1914-15? Mr. Baldwin holds that the increased cost is due to the popularity of the institution. People use it, he says, because they can get better nursing attention there I .than'in private houses, and in order to. shirk the responsibility of paying doctors. But why should these tendencies be more pr.cnounced in' the Wellington . district, than iu .other hospital districts 'J And why are. they.encouraged at the expense of the •taxpayer. At the Conference of representatives of contributing bodies, the opinion was freely expressed that the increased cost was in a largo measure due. to defective administration. No explanation seems to have been forthcoming of the fact mentioned by Mr. M'Eavan that the' increase in Dunedin had been very small, while in Wellington it hacl been surprisingly large. The majority of the Conference appears to have come to the conclusion that there is little hope .of much relief as long as the present system continues, and a resolution was.carried by 16 votes to 12 expressing the opinion that the whole of tlie Hospital and Charitable Aid Boards of the Dommiotl should be nationalised, "as by this means a' more equitable basis .of expenditure would be obtained." This would, of coursc, involve a very radical and far-reaching change, but unless the existing arrangement can be made to workmore equitably and more economically public opinion will insist upon the establishment of a new and better order of things. The dissatisfaction may be greater in Wellington than in other places, but there seems to be a general feeling that the present system of hospital finance and control will.Have to be altered. Taking' the Dominion as a whole, the hospital and charitable aid expenditure increased in the teu years ended March 31, 1914, from 6s. Id. per head of population to 10s. 9? f d. It is still mounting up, and the contributing bodies .are experiencing more and more difficulty'in finding the money to pay the ever-increasing levies placed upon theni. Our hospitals must be kept up to date iu all respects. They must bo equipped with the lai'.cst"and best scientific appliances, and economy at tlie expense of efficiency could not be tolerated. Ilut seems to be room for improvement in methods of administration. Some clearer understanding is necessary as regards tho class of people., who should be permitted' to receive hospital treatment, and there is need for more business-like arrangements regarding t.he matter of payment by" patients. In answer to the deputation which waited upon him, the- Hon. G. W. Hussell remarked, that some new plan will have to be found by which tlie responsibilities, of thosf who go into our hospitals may be increased. Mr. Russell was not prepared to express any opinion on the question of nationalisation, though he admitted that publi.e opinion was turning in

that direction. In any case, it certain that the present system will soon have to be overhauled thoroughly, and that the Government will be compelled to bear a

larger share of hospital expense. This may. involve an extension of ccntral control. The present position is 'so unsatisfactory that it is to he hoped that the.Minister will as soon as possible that steps to give effect to his proposal-to confer with Hospital Board representatives with the object of devising v workable scheme likely to improve, matters.