HOSPITAL FINANCE

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 37, 8 November 1920, Page 4

HOSPITAL FINANCE

THE PAYMENT OE SUBSIDIES r COMMISSION OF INQUIRY PROMISED (The House .on Saturday considered the Hospital and Charitable Institutions Amendment Bill (No. 2), which, after reference to the Public Health Commit,tee,.had.come back very much altered. •i e , a , mended 6ca!e °f subsidies for hospital boards had been struck out. Jlr. J. P. Luke (Wellington North) deplored .the. fact that' the schedule had been deleted,

Mr. R.A. Wright (Wellington Suburbs) said thnt he also- regretted the. deletion of the schedule by the commit--tee. The levy-, for hospital and charitable aid purposes was pressing very heavily upon the local bodies in the Wellington .district. Hospital boards had only to present their bill; tho local bodies had to impose the rates. Then-if th'e rates seemed very heavy, tho blame for the increased taxation wrongly fell upon the local bodies. Because of the power of the boards to impose taxation in this indirect fashion, he thought it important that-ths method of electing members should be reformed. Hospital and charitable aid boards should bo elected by the local 'bodies and should include some members nominated.-t>y the Government.-

Dr. A. K. Newman' (Wellington East) Bg_raed with the views expressed by Mr. TV right. Ho thought that tho present arrangement unfair, though he suggested tnat it elould be borne for. n time, until tm\ matter could be comprehensively dealt with. 'Vita committee proposed that the Minister should have increased power'to look after the welfare of th« nurses. Ho hoped that when Parliament met next year the question ot wlio -should raise 'the money and who ' should spend it would be decided anew.

Mr. <W. H. Field (Otaki) observed that rating in different districts for hospital and charitable aid purposes' was anything but uniform at' present. He thought it should'-imi put on a,uniform . footing for the whole Dominion. Ho was glad to: see the provision that tip Minister might take steps to make the lives of the nurses "Ices unbearable": than they were at present. Nurses should not be required to perform menial tasks L ]ike scrubbing, for instance. Such work only wore them out and rendered them less fit for th/dr nursing duties. Mr. M. J. Savage (Auckland West) defended the hospital boards ' against t.hfl imputation that they acted irresponsibly iin the. matter of expenditure. He believed in local control. •• The Minister, in reply, said that the system, of hospital government was open to criticism. It was a system peculiar ■ to New Zealand, and it had won some admiration from other countries. . Hospital, boards wcro' elected by the. people, who thus had control of the hospitals. But the State, without representation on '.tho boards, found half the money spent .by the boards. It was a question whe'ther- the Government, should not have the right to nominate some members of the boards. Ho was not sure that the principle of direct election by the peo=ple had not been carried too far in this instance. The boards were not'responsible for finding the money they spent, they might not always exercise due 'economy. The ever-growing hospital levies undoubtedly were a seriouß charge en the local bodies. But the public must recognise, on the other hand, that the increased cost of living affected hospital boards as much as anybody else, nnd that the. standard of hospital equipment and treatment was rising. The Government's- subsidies to hospital boards showed an increase of .£IOO,OOO for the last twelve months. Mr. Parr mentioned that. in Britain and America --many of., the hospitals were_ dependent •largely on voluntary contributions. This arrangement did not work particularly ■ well. Tho financing of hospitals by the State had been suggested. Would tho 'local people bo prepared to let the Public Health Department control their hospitals? He thought not. The management of hospitals was largely a. business matter, and the officers of the Health Department were medical experts' -.' The Minister added that since 1909 the boards had been working under a system of subsidy that had proved inwritable and untair. Tho system provided that the.higher tho rates, tho lower the subsidy. This was not fair, einco the district that did most for itself was -penalised. The Department had tried .to devise a new'and improved schedulo of subsidy. The preparation of such a schedule was exceedingly difficult. He had considered four schemes, and had embodied tho best one in the Bill. But this schedule, while an improvement on the present system, was not porfect and lie had welcomed a suggestion made by .the Public Health Committee of the House that the (luestion should be referred -to a commission of inquiry during the recess. The schedule and its accompanying clauses had been cut out of the Bill in the meantime, and he would prepare legislation for next session after ho had received the commission's report. Ho hoped that some assistance might bo given to the more necessitous boards to tidte over tho intervening' period. He realised that the boards Vere facing serious difficulties, particularly in making up leeway duo to the "war. The Bill was proposing to relieve tho situation to some extent by granting the boards power to borrow money under proper conditions. Provision was being made for tho issue of regulations designed to secure proper working conditions lor nurses. ... ' The Bill was put through committee land passed.

SECONDARY INDUSTRIES

PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN SUGGESTED.

The institution of a propaganda entnDai»n with the object of popularising tho Secondary-industries of-the Dominion-was *uggeste'a rr tb' the President of the Board of Trade by Mr. D. Q,. Sullivan (Avon) In the House of Representatives on-Sat-urday morning. This course, ho said, had been followed with some success in Australia. „ „ , , ~ The Minister (Hon. E. P. l.ce) said ilmtihe would be vorr km to, consider iho suggestion.which had been made to Sim.