MR W. E. BARNARD'S VIEW

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 160, 24 July 1937, Page 6

MR W. E. BARNARD'S VIEW

Harmonious Board The Real Need "ILL-BALANCED REPORT"

"The report ie like tne curate '» egg — good in parts," stated Hon. W. E. Barnard, M.P., when commenting on the findings of the Hospital Commission. "It would have heen much more valuable," he continued, "if the commission had devoted some of the space given up to chastisement to considered proposals for the improvement of the Hospital Board and to methods which wonld inspire the fullest public confidence in hospital administration. The generalisations which are put forward under the last paragraph of the report are sketchy, and do not appear to have adequate support, while at least one of tihem is entirely out of place in the report. That Dr. J. Allan Berry ought meekly to have submitted to dismissal from the honorary staff and that he should be severely rated for not doing so, will not appeal to many as a cairn and sound judgment. "The report seems to have cleared up some individual matters, and, it is hoped, has led and will lead to a muchneeded improvement in the conduct of the hospital and the conditions of the nursing staff, but it makes no real contribution to the major question of tlie constitution of thf hospital district and the representation on the board. What is wanted is a representative and harmonious board. The lack of this, to which the report refer3 only in a passing phrase, is the root cause of our hospital troubles, and the report shows by omission that the commission failed to give any serious attention to this most important subject. "The report is, in my opinion, illbalanced; it dwells too much on the condemnation of individuals — aild is the less convincing in consequence — and too little on the larger issues. P-rhaps the order of reference might have been widened with advantage. The public will feel with some reason that the final purpose of the commission should have been to try and lay the foundations for a more satisfactory hospital system rather than to find a scapegoat. The real work still remains to be done ,and it would seem that Parliament will have to do it."