CONSUMPTIVES' HOMES
BETTER PROVISION WANTED
REPORT BY ACTING-MEDICAL
SUPERINTENDENT
To tiie Hospital and Charitable Aid Brard, llie I'liiaiice Louimillce reported on Thursday as follows:— "A circular letter having been received from Ihe Clue,l Health Oificer asking the board to assist the Ddencc and I-nlilio Health Departments ill providing accommodation and treatment fur 'Cui'ouic Consumptive Soldiers,' a reply bo sent stating that, while this board is anxious to assist in the mailer, and recognises .1 tie tlcsuv of Ihe Department to place these patients within easy reach of their relatives and friends, the Public Health Department should consider tho following issue.s relating to the present accommodation for consumptives at the Wellington Hospital:— "tO .Medical report,) submitted to tho board <|iiestion the advisability of conlinning to treat these patients at the Hospital (Wellington) owing to the available accommodation being unsatisfactory, and to. fhe difficulty oi' controlling other than bed-ridden cases, which becomes, a serious problem if reasonable restrictions are to be enforced.
"(2) That, the hoard endorses these reports which liavo been iua3e -by Dr. Adams, formerly Tuberculosis Medical Officer, and by Dr. .11 islop,'Acting-Medical Superintendent. "(3) That the Department further consider the matter, and state whether the future policy will be to send chronic consumptives to Wellington to be treated in institutions adjacent fo Wellington Hospital, so that the board may know if it will be necessary to bring down «. comprehensive proposal to provide 'suitable. sufficient, and comfortable' accommodation for the purpose."
The letter of the Chief Health Officer 'rend as follows-.—"Sir,—ln regard to the treatment- of returned consumptive soldiers, whose condition does not warrant treatment, in one of the open : air sanatoria, it is felt that .she policy'generally adopted in civil lil'n should also apply to these men, namely that they should bp located for treatment as near as possible to their, own homes. I shall bo glad, therefore, to know' whether your board is prepared to assist the Defence and Public Health Departments in tlia matter, and if so, the number of cases which your board is prepared to accept at the hospitals undei; their charge. In order to avoid occupying beds in tho annexes to the exclusion of civilian cafes, the .Defence Department, is prepared In supply a certain nutiiber of morn bio single bed shelters, which .r.an be rapidly bolted together and placed on any convenient. site chosen by your lward. Please let me know .how many of such/shelters for soldiers von would like sumdied. "(Sgd.) T. H. A. VALINTINR, "Chief Health Officer.'".
The chairman (Mr. T'\ Castle) stated Hint the ranter was an, imporjunl one, and before the matter was considered he t.lioin'bf the renort prepared bv (he Act-ing-Medical Superintendent (Dr. Hislop) should be read. The report was as follows:—
"Dear Sir.—l have read fhe circular recently received from Ihe Chief Health Officer with vegard to. the reception of returned soldiers suffering from consumption, whose condition does not warrant, their treatment a.l; tTm existing open-air (sanatoria. Presumably this refers to eases of somewbaf advanced' disease which' have passed the stage at which recovery is ' reasonably probable.
"For the information of the Hospital Committee, I beg to submit the following report:—At present such cases are accommodated in the Seildon . Shelters, where 27 can be taken. There are i.i.der treatment IK moles, wifh vacancies for. two' more, the oilier shelters being allocated, to. females. There is laud space above Iho existing shelters for a number of singln shelters of the type-suggested' by the Chief Health Officer.
"The sife. however.- is -extremely es*■posed to allwind.?., and (lie ground would have to ba prepared and paths made. In all a considerable amount, of work-would I).e. necessary. Apart from that, the locality is'too. hilly to .maTte' it, suilablo for pntients with damaged lungs.-They would have no spn<ic for oyen-air exercise, and the mere necessity ol going up and down the hill would be a severo tux 011 their vitality.'
"The same considerations would make, necessary a large increase of nursing' staff attached to Seddon Annexe. Patients kept in bed must havu their.meals carried to tliem and other services rendered which necessitate inady trips up a-nl down by the nurses. In addition, all patients are regularly visited at intervals during the night. Tho committee, knowing the locality, will realise the arduous nature of ihe nursing required, especially when increased by wind, rain, and darkness.
"It is a question for the lward to seriously consider whether any extension of the Reddon .Shelters sliould b,». countenanced. In my opinion Hie whole scheme of locating them in tho General Hospital grounds is.radically bad, because it makes difficult isolation now everywhere agreed to be imperative. Their particular locality on a, wind-swept hillside is unsuitable for the patients, all of whom are debilitated, and are thus deprived of suitable exercise; and the difficulties of efficient nursing have already besn pointed out.
"The'Seddon Shelters in' brief can onlv. be regarded jl-3 a temporary oxpotliei?! until (lie time arrives when some entirely different scheme can be carried out for housing and-'treating such cases; ami as a temporary arrangement, it should not,, I think, lie extended if it is possible to avoid doing so/' Members .generally expressed the :pinion that better accommodation on a more' suitable site should he provided for cou6umptive.s,. and that the .' Government should assist in providing same. •Mr.- J. Hutchison said that if any momfei -of the board doubted the nufiiiitabjlity'of the present coitfrmptive shelters, they should go up and si and by them for ten minutes that afternoon. Dr. Hislop was cordially thanked for the report he had presented.
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Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 235, 28 June 1919, Page 7
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924CONSUMPTIVES' HOMES Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 235, 28 June 1919, Page 7
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