THAMES HOSPITAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5325, 12 September 1928, Page 4

THAMES HOSPITAL.

MEETING OF BOARD. The monthly meeting of the Thames Hospital Board was held on Monday la,st, Mr W. E. Hale piiesffdinjj over Messrs. E, L. W.a.lton, C. W. Parfitt, A. R. Rqbinson, P. E. Brenan, C. W. Kennedy, J. Lange, J. W. Dajiby, C. W. S. Flett, and the secretary (Mr Gi Tonge). NATIVE NURSE. The Medical Officer of Health, Auckland, wrote expressing regret .that the board could not see its way clear to take over the control of the Native nurse. The letter, stated that the position wa,s rather unsatisfactiry as it stood at present, an(d«it was felt that it would be in the interests of the service if the; board would reconsider the proposal to take oyer the control of the nurse. The chairman ojbserved that only I last month the board had dea.lt with the matter. He did npt see that conditio,ns had altered. lOn the. motion of Mr Walton the; previou® decis'ioji was affirmed. CONFERENCE OF BOARDS. The Hospital Boards’ Association of N.Z. advised that the next conferences would be held in March. 1929, and remits for. consideration should bh, forwarded prompty. Included in' t'he proposals to be brought up were the following :— “That hospital boards be recommended to adopt the uniform rate of charges for inpatients of 12s per. diem for adults and 6; for children under 14 years of age. “Recommendations for tlfe Council of .Matrons : Tn a t a fo ( urth-year course of training for pupil nurses be made compulsory by all boards ; that where conveniently possible provision b® •made for nurse's in their fourth year of training to take a short period of district purging ; that where dietitians J! and masseuses are, on hospital staffs they should be under the control of ■ .the matron for the purpose of dis- , cipliiie and administr.atio.n ; that registered nurses in private practice ifoi' ■two or three years be; accepted on the staffs of hospitals for a refresher cojurse of six mcaitht, a,s fourth year nurses. The secretary was instructed to consider any remits tha.t may be received, and report to the. November meeting. v WAIHI PATIENTS. The Waihi Hospital Board forwarded a long report on the admission of three patients from the Thames district, whose condition necessitated urgent treatment. The fir s t case was I that of a Paeroa man injured in a t motb-r accident at a time when floo.de. prevented his transportation to Thames. ,0n account o£. the Serious I state of a Waikin.o man and woman, it was not deemed advisable to delay their admission by sending them to l Thames. In reply to Mr Walton the chairman stated that when the Board de;clined liability for these patients it had no details of the ea.siefs. It now appeared that the admission to Waihi was justified. Mr Danby said, that a detailed statement should b e receivie.d in all case. On tlie motion of the chairman liability in these, three cases was accepted, and it was decided' to obtain par.j ticulars' of another admission. ACCOUNTS. Acconuts totalling £1477 7s 9d were passed for payment. COMMITTEES. Thiq following committees; were ap- ' pointed ;— Homes : Messrs Danby and Lange ; hospital: Messrs Robinson and Brenan. . , ‘ THE LAUNDRY. f Tlie chairman reported that the Laundry Committee had noti been able te report. Conditions were improving, and the dajly work was finiteihing considerably earlier than previously. APPOINTMENT OF ENGINEER. On the motion of Mr Walton, Mr FMcLqughlin was appointed engineer. He had been second engineer for. the last seven years,./ Applications will be c-alled for the position of second engineer at 13s per day. REPORTS BY THY' (STAFF. WORK OF THE iMJONTH. The resident surgeon, Dr. W. Sowerby, reported that dur ng the month of August 54 males, and 58 females had be.e n admitted. Niiii“ males and four females had died and 52 males and 52 females had been dis-, charged, leaving 'A7. males and 36 fe-' males in tthe institution. 'Forty operations had been ,pej:f oianed. ,a.iid .16 attendances giyon to out-pattents The ,moi) t tih , had been, an .exceptionally busy arid anxious ’one, for both the nursing 'and medical staffs. The average number, of daily occupied beds was 79.6. There had been, 'a small epidemic., of typhoid. feyter, (with two, deaths. ' The others nppeaijed to be deffig well. MATRON'S REPORT., The matron,: Miss K. M. Anserine, reported at lemgth on staff matters. Nurse. Swindijll had passed the maternity exai hinatiojn, gainiing first place Jn the Dominion. Nur Ke M oOre had had a n iild attack of diphtheria, but was nioji j? in good health and on lea.ve. The eleventh new probationer this year b been taken on*, and it was difficul £ to arrange with so few seniors, as <fir-st-year. nurses were not supposed to atten,d typhoid cases. After an i ajteryiew with the chairman >t wal de .elided. tq endeavour to get a staff nun s® ,f O r, six months. There ’ tify-j been 15 births in; the .maternity /Mt.-nexe during the moffith. Seme means of communication between jt he i solatium wgrd and the hospital y/ag n ecessairy. On the rr iotiQn, "of Mr Walton it was decided to ; compliment Nurse Swindell on lier, achl ieveme nt. COM! JITTER’S REPORT. •Mr Rcbir ison, on I behalf of the Hospital visit ing C< nnmlttee, reported ■ that the r< movatic ms were proceeding satisfactorily. j lis attention had been drawj i to, sev era! small matters, particular] y cone exiling ventilation,

which had been omitted from the Public Works Departmient’s estimate. He would not express an opinion on the inatter, but would move that the matter be; investigated by the chairman aiul local committee. The. chairman mentioned that the contractors had recojnmended numerous extras. He had taken; a stand and had already approved several matters, including some rather expensive, wojrks, Such as ventilators, spotting, etc. He was not satisfied with the specifications, prepared by tlie Public Works Department, as there we r e several omissions. Consequently 'he had employed a clerk of works, which appointment had been amply justified;. The matter was referred to, the local committee, ah also was the in,itallatioh qf an electric bell service between the isolation bldck and t'he hospital. ENGINEER’S REPORT. The assistant engineer, Mr F. McLoughlin, reported that stea.m had been kept up throughout the month, and the laundry had-be.en in daily use. The coal consumption was 64 ton®. DISTRICT HOMES. The superintendent ‘of the Tararu Hoimes reported that the conduct of tihe 15 men anl one woman in the hojnie was good. The farm was in good order, and feed was plentiful, with the result that milk production had, shown a big, increase. Mr Parfitt, on, behalf of the visiting committee, reportiteffi in detail on several minor matters. In dfply to Mr Danby tllie chairman sail that the change in management of the homes and farm bad proved quite satisfactory. The inmates were quite satisfied' with- their treatment, and everything was proceeding very smo|othly indeed. The farm was now a good proposition, and he anticipated that when the year was up a satisfactory improvement would be reported. DISTRICT NURSE. The district nur.Se to 1 Natives, Miss Jamieson, reported haying visited '5B cases during August. Schools had been visited and Native childten examined and advised on the care of teeth, personal cleanliness, treatment of skin troubles, and prevention of infection. Several Native pas had been visited. PATETONGA NURSE. The Patcitonga district nursfe rG ' 1 ported having attended 24' case®, .making 36 visits, i n Patetonga, and Kaihere. Fees earned amc-unted to £4 10s, and £2 was collected.