HOSPITAL LEVIES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 240, 28 June 1918, Page 6

HOSPITAL LEVIES

BOARD'S FINAL DECISION NO REDUCTION THIS YEAR At the meeting- of the Wellington Hospital and Charitable Aid Board held yesterday, the resolutions passed at the recont 'conference of representatives of the board and contributing bodies in regard to the levies struck this year were formally presented to the board. Mr. F. Castle (treasurer) moved:— That a reply bo 6ent to the local contributing bodies stating that this board deems it inadvisable to reduce . the estimates this year, beoause it believes suoh n course would seriously impair the efficient conduct of the hospital and charitable aid servica for which this board is responsible to local and general taxpayers in the Wellington hospital district.

The mover, without going once mora into figures, said that it was well known, now that they could not reduce their levies in a way that would be appreciable to the local bodies concerned. That could only bo done if they could see how they wero io reduce their estimates by some thousands of pounds, and he did not see how that was to be done without impairing the efficiency of the hospital. Mo member wished to see thei salaries cut down or the staff reduced--not even the representatives of local bodies on the board—and that was what would have to be done to make any biff difference. The final clause in tho resolution left them a loophole. Efficiency depended on money, afld they wero row laced with a good deal of development work one way and another, and he »'f.a not prepared to accept any responsibility on the. score of impaired efficiency by hampering the finance of tho-board during tho current year. It was all very w'cll for some peopla to mv that they wero extravagant, but if the service fell short of the standard they had to tnko tho responsibility. Efficiency should be considered primarily. The institution after all was not for the individual, but was established for the bonefit of the health of the community as a whole. , Rev. H. van Stavereu seconded the motion. Mr. F. T. Moore said that tne meat bill for the past month was £Stl, a big increase on any previous month. The chairman said that the meat was supplied under contract, and it was too late to do anything in that respect. Mr. J. A. MT3wan urged that a system flf seperate accounts 6hould li) kept, so they would know in which department the increases wero taking, place, which were making headway in expenditure; and those which were not. No ono knew, for example, what tho dental department was going to cost this vear. They had an estimate of the receipts, but npne of the expenditure. Then there were the bacteriological anil other departments, the affairs of winch they shouid know from month to month. He had no desire to harass the poor man, but those who were known to earn "ood or more than ordinary wages should be made to pay. If there were eases where men with 6ix or seven children were only getting £2 or eo a week, they knew they could not pay, and such cases should be written off. He believed that the board could reduce the estimates bv ,£3OOO, and would do 60 this vear. " He was going to try and heb 'it to do so. (Applause). ?J'i'. Castle's motion was adopted unanimously.