A DOCTOR'S DISMISSAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 196, 14 May 1919, Page 8

A DOCTOR'S DISMISSAL

I CLAIM FOR DAMAGES I CHARGES OP PROFESSIONAL ] -. ;■-,.... MISCONDUCT !' ■:', ..- By Telegraph—Presa Association. I ;r'.'.;...,,., .. . Auckland,.Mai 13. j -~-A civil*action, possessing some extra- ; ordinary features in,that the statement of defenco contains allegations against the professional conduct of .tho plaintiff i while he' held the position of medical J superintendent of tho public hospital at Mangonui, was commenced at the Siti preme'Court, before Mr. Justice Cooper !■' and a jury" of 12. The'plaintiff, Percy !'■ W. Menziea, of Clyde, medical nracti- ] tibner, sought (o recover from the Bay : of Islands Hospital amP Charitable Aid 1 Board the sum of J2Ol as general dams'' . agea, and £M as special damages, for ! alleged wrongful : dismissal: I The statement of claim showed that on ' ■ October i, 1913, the defendant board api pointed'the plaintiff as medical superin- ! tendent of the public hospital at MartfiOnui, at a salary of ,£l5O per annum, with I house allowance and certain allowances ! ' for maternity cases, and the right of i : private practice. The appointment waa i not for any definite town, and. there was ! no clause in the contract as ; to the notice ! ' required to termiuate the engagement. !■" On December i, 1917, the defendant board, without making any complaint and without 'giving him any opportunity ! of being previously heard in his own. i defence, notified. plaintiff that'his onj ga'gement would terminate at the expirai tion of three months. The said notifi- !' cation concluded with the paragraph; i "This action has not been taken because I • of any want of skill upon your part w I- medical superintendent of the hospital. ! Plaintiff alleged that ' the notification I emounted to wrongful dismissal, inasi much as tho notice given was not ''eaeonj . able notice in the ciroumstances of the j case. By reason of the dismissal the. plaintiff was forced to leave the district and to give up a growing private p* noj tice, and also to give up appointments f>9 [ 'medical 'superintendent to the Natives I ■ and as doctor to the Medical Club, whioh j were also held-by Mm while medical I superintendent of the Mangonui Hospital, ! • there being not sufficient remuneration !■ ■' in private practice alone in such a die- ' trict to support a medical practitioner. I- ' The defence was a denial of all the ; ' allegations in the statement of claim, ! ',• with the exception of those relating to I the appointment of plaintifi a? medical • superintendent, to the term of ihe ap- : pointment, and the manner of- tenninati , ing- the engagement. For a further de- ' fence it was contended that theulaintiff ■ inisoonducted .himeolf ■ in. the service of '■ ■ the defendant board by wilfully disobey- ! -ing orders'of the board, by charging fees ! for examination of persons desirous of j entering the hospital; by making exor- ! bitant charges and so tending to render ■ ' his assistance unavailable, in the district i exoept for wealthy patients, by unreai Bonably refusing admission of patients ■'" "'' to the hospital, by unreasonably refus- : ing to work with the district • nurse at ! Kaeo as- from .November. 22, 1917; by ' demanding and receiving personal puyI . 'ment from hospital patients; by beinjf ■ offensive in.his,manner,and using.opener™ and improper language to membere : of the board when being spnlcen to about '■ hospital matters; by insisting on treati ing hospital patients as private 'oatients, i and charging for operations and ct.ten- '■■' 'tion'to such patients; by making false I and misleading charges in l writing to the ; defendant board on November- 22, IPI7. ' against' Nurse Bedford, an employee of ! the board; by insisting on the uuarantcti j ' of fee 3 liefore attending cases of extreme ; . urgency, and 'by so conducting himself : in the above manner aa to arouse mib- < lie indication, \as h result of which vvb- : lie resolutions of protest from Whanjraj ma County Council, on November 28, '■ 1917, nnd from a general public meeting. ■ of residents of the Countr of Whantproa,' ;. held on December 1, 1917. were sent to : the hoard in regard to his aotions, end ! bo rendered his services aa ■' a medical mnn useless in the hospital district. [ Plaintiff was giving evidenoo when the i Court adjourned.