PAIN RELIEF

Hokitika Guardian, 20 August 1929, Page 2

PAIN RELIEF

VISITING J A UTHORITY ON

ANAESTHESIA

“The whole future of pain relief in New Zealand depends upon the hospitals giving full opportunities to the younger group of medical men and dentists to develop the modern practice of anaesthesia. It will also bo necessary for the medical pr ifession to drop the present method of using the general practitioner for the administering of the anaesthetic, and. having this service administered by experts but at the same time the gcu oral practitioner should be kept on the case to take intensive charge or all its medical aspects.” Those views were expressed to it reporter recently by Dr F. H. M’-.Me-ehan Secretary-General of the International Anaesthesia Research So-* ciety, who, after visiting Auckland and Wellington, passed through Christchurch yesterday on bis way to Dunedin, where lie willl meet the medical men there and see the work at th" Medical School.

‘The public itself wj 11 have to show dissatisfaction with.the older methods of anaesthesia aticl their unpleasant after-effects, arid .demand the lutesi the safest and the 'best. In doing this the public must remain dissatis find with the service it receives until every physical pain is being successfully relieved.” lie said. “There is a group of younger, doctors and dentists in the four large centres of New Zealand who are quite capable of developing themselves , for expert service in pain relief if given the opportunity for so doing by.the hospitals, surgeons and specialists, and partioolarly with public demand and . support. One thing that would help above all others in. accomplishing this result .would be the formation of a Society of Now Zealand Anaesthetists similar to those in existence in Great Britain, Canada and the United States. The New .Zealand Medical Association, could aocpTTmlish a/very, splendid thing tortin!, public apd, the profession by making such a society of anaesthetists one of its sections for its annual conferences, just as it has done for other phases of the practice., of medicine. • “It is my. impression that those in Australia who are anxious and willing to bring the latest and,best and safest in pain relief are quite capable of accomplishing; their, purpose. In fact, in seme instances I have found that such anaesthetists ( have cabled for .supplies’ of the most recent agents for anaesthesia .'immediately;. on receiving reports of their., efficiency arid safety, and liave. put them .to'use at once.

‘•'There is one,bijh,er very important co-operatioji be needed in this connection, "ahff that is the teaching of anaesthesia! and its best methods'in the medical' arid dental Schools. I can conceive no greater contribution for the future of"'pain relief in New Zealand than to.. have tho medical and dental schools commit themselves definitely to the creation of a sufficient number of highly qualified ancl expert anaesthetists to fully staff the anaesthesia service of every general hospital and nursing hofne in New Zealand, and for the dental school to provide an equal number of expert dental anaesthetists for pain relief in dentistry and oral surgery in their office’.

“There is a,n impression that expert anaesthesia and the latest methods of paln relief are too expensive 'for practical development on account of '’die fees for such service and the cost of the : materials used, but curiously enough expert anaesthesia service is something that pays for itself,” added Dr M’Mechan.. “For instance, the only time that a patient is profitable to the mu-sing home is during the first week’s stay. During the second week it is difficult for the hospital to break even cn the "cost of the patient’s care, and the third week is a definite loss, and’ accounts for excessive hospital overhead and deficits. The turnover, of. surgical patients must be achieved in ten days if possib’e, and in two weeks at most, in order to be profitable, and, ilf the patient only has this short-lived period of hospitalisation to pay for, he can all the more readily meet his hospital, surgical, anaesthetic and nursing fees, whereas under older methods of anaesthesia, 'with delayed recoveries, the prolonged stay in the hospital eats up most of the patient’s financial resources. Expert anaesthesia, also has its economic contribution for the general hospital, the expenses of which are met. out of public rates. Here, tin; rapid turnover of patients accomplished by better anaesthesia enables any given general hospital to provide for 25 per cent more patients a yoa.r without any increase in buildings, equipment, or staff, and at the same or even a lesser cost. From this it may be seen that expert anaesthesia deserves its place in the economic life of New Zealand because of its saying to the ratepayer. What is of equal importance is that modern methods and expert service make it so pleasant to go to sleep and recover from an operation that many patients who are withholding themselves from operations on account, of the disagreeable experiences of others will r.eadih submit themselves to operation and cure under the new dispensation. Dr M’Meohan, who visited the Christchurch Hospital, the Lewisham Hospital and St. George’s Hospital, was well pleased f with what lie saw. “A visit to the Public- Hospital gives the impression that in buildings, equipment, administration., .staff and service it is quite on a par with the best of the general hospitals one sees in the larger cities of the world.

St. George’s and the Lewisham are quite comparable to the (best private hospitals.” Air M Mechan hopes to interest tlic authorities and the students at the Medical .School of the Otago University in the study anil application of modern a naesthesi a. “It is something the universities all over the world owe to the public, to create this service,” lie said. “That’s what we say in the States,” ]> M’Meehan will be spending some time in Christchurch on his return, and will talk to doctors and dentists at the Christchurch Hospital, where he will (he the guest tor a morning of surgical demonstrations.