THE WELLINGTON HOSPITAL

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 104, 26 January 1935, Page 8

THE WELLINGTON HOSPITAL

Aim at Perfection

DEFECTS REQUIRING TREATMENT

Scale of Charges ti ■ o (No. IV.) [j If there is any modern truth in the .. ancient saying: "In a multitude of couni- sellers there is wisdom,” the policy as . regards control and developmmit of the c Wellington Hospital should be perfect. e The administrative staff consists of 23 . oflicial experts under a mediral superr intendent, who gives the impression that his firmness' would never be allow--1 ed to distort Ills fairness, while the > honorary staff numbers over 50 quali- ,- lied physicians and surgeons Together, they are numerically almost - equal to the House of Representatives > in Parliament. Organisation is ; | thorough, ami marked with almost a j military precision. There is no scope i for tittle-tattle or tale-bearing It would seem, however, that perfec- • lion is still a goal in the future. No ' one in authority pretends that delii eiences do not exist. These are plain 1 enough, but most of them ( as explain--1 ed in other articles published in "The Dominion” during the week) are attributable to a lack of planning in the past. Expansion has been haphazard, and not always to the best advantage There is too much space and not enough concentrated room. Here and there patients have to be transported to special aids instead of these wing taken to the sufferers; a few hundred pounds spent on portable mechanical appliances would overcome the defect and place Wellington Hospital in line with less pretentious hospitals elsewhere. Scope For Reconstruction. Is there need of building reconstruction of the general hospital? Politicians in an election year unhesitatingly would say, "The answer is in the affirmative,” which means with less circumlocutory people simply, ‘"les.” ’There is no suggestion by hospital administrators that capital expenditure should be incurred merely because money is cheaper and material and labour less expensive. But there is undoubted need of a building programme to serve the requirements of a large hospital district, say, for the next 20 years. As previously indicated, more accommodation is wanted now for chronic and incurable invalids, who ought to be receiving skilled treatment in a hospital, but who have to makeshift in private homes, often in distressing circumstances. Then, it. is admittedly uneconomic to spend £7OOO a year on otherdistrict treatment of T.B. '-ases, when over £2OOO of that sum could be saved through early treatment in extended or special accommodation here; the saving would pay interest and sinking fund charges on the capital cost of construction. Auckland has got in first with an approved scheme to build a “chest” hospital. .Some of the hospital plant is in need of replacement with modern appliances. The original section of the main hospital really has served its day, artificial lighting being bad, and much of the space being wasted. Problem of Social Relief. Medical opinion appears to be unanimous about the time having come to divorce the distribution of charitable aid from real hospital service. This | does not mean that aged and indigent people would be deprived of medical or surgical treatment, if required. The sum of over £32,000 has been allotted in the board’s estimates this financial year for expenditure by the relief department. A staff off eight is engaged actively on the distribution of social relief. The fact that such aid lias been administered by hospital boards for years, as an exercise of national policy may not justify its continuance at a time when the need of social relief has become more aggravated. It is contended that a public hospital should be used exclusively for the treatment of sickness and accidents. As things are, many people who ought to be attended to by the Unemployment Board and given work as the quickest and best cure for minor ailments, are hospital patients receiving treatment that might be written off as free; for the simple reason that the board has little chance of collecting fees. Cost of Treatment. Then there is the question of charges for hospital service. Is the scale too high? Clearly, in existing circumstances, four guineas a week is a charge beyond the means of many people. It is argued, of course, that so -long as debtors agree to pay something off arrears the authorities will not be too hard on them; but that is merely trilling with hard facts and figures. The “dunning” process is sometimes worse than the ailment that contracted the debt. As in other hospital centres throughout many countries, there is a great ileal of talk in Wellington medical circles about tba necessity for establishing community wards at the hospital so that patients could be treated by their own doctors or surgeons and pay for such services. It is pointed out that organised Labour is opposed to such an innovation, but the system is i gaining favour both in New South Wales and Victoria If such patients had to pay less for hospital accommodation the amount probably would be ! paid in most cases, while tliere seems ' little doubt that the medical and stir gieal fees also would be paid, seeing i that, the ratepayers could not be called I upon to carry the growing burden of bad debts for general hospital treat- ! ment. In any case the question offers ] ample scope for argument for and ( against it- < Supply of Luxuries. ( As a final word it is not claimed here ■' that the full story of Wellington Hos- 1 pital lias been told. There have been * no purposeful gaps; and it is fair to ' say that the officials were perfectly ( frank in their information and quite f friendly in their attitude. They believe ( that the work of the hospital should be made known to.the public, and that all complaints should be exercised in the open. Tlie purpose of the great institution Is lo heal, even If the hurt be nothing more serious than a grievance. Some extraordinary stories have gained circulation, but inquiry and observation nail them down as spurious currency. Still, it does seem odd Unit iu spite of model kitchens, vast stores, and contracts for the supply of fresh food, in-patients should lie i eager for generous supplies of fruit and ( flesh eggs from outside sources, i Doesn’t the charge of four guineas a 1 week cover all the necessaries and a I few essential luxuries? i