Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 1905. HOSPITAL TREATMENT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3496, 14 March 1905, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 1905. HOSPITAL TREATMENT.

Statements made at last night’s meeting,of the Fdxton Borough Council, and based dri infoi'rridticn supplied by a man who had been a patient in the Palmerston North Hospital, merit some attention. Allegations were contained in these statements, which, if true, amount to serious indictments of the medical authorities and the discipline of the institution. The patient whose case was the special, subject of discussion had made a definite statement that he had been three weeks in the hospital before being visited by the medical officer. We are disposed to take this with the proverbial grain of salt, and to 1 ok upon it as somewhat overdrawn ; but the fact remains that silch a .statement is a reflection upon -thd hospital and all concerned in its management, and should be refuted if it is, as we sincerely hope, untrue. On the other hand, if the charge is borne out by facts, then some radical alterations should be effected in the internal economy of the institution. It would appear, if reliance can be placed upon the information placed before the council, that the patient referred to did practically as he liked, and eventually left the institution in a very informal manner because he said he could not gat any attention. The whole circumstances of the case, so far as we can gather, are such that they cannot be fully discussed in the columns of a public print; but it seems to us imperative that, for the satisfaction of the large body of ratepayers contributing to the maintenance of the Palmerston North Hospital, and for the credit of the institution and the staff, some inquiry should be held into the matter.