HOSPITAL RETURNS

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2428, 13 May 1922, Page 2

HOSPITAL RETURNS

LOW DEATH RATE. Sstalisiics of the mortality fate and the number of patients treated medically and surgically during the year ended March 31, 11)22, at the Palmerston North- public hospital were supplied to the Board at the meeting on Thursday by the (Medical Superintendent .(Dr Forrest).He stated that the daily average number of patients had risen from 70.5 the previous year to 89.8. The average stay in hospital days. At the beginning of the year there were 08 patients, 1,536 were admitted during the year, 1,506 were discharged, leaving 98 patients in the hospital on March 31. Of the 1,506 patients discharged, 1,223 recovered. 161 were relieved, 52 were unrelieved, and 70 died. This gave a general death rate of 4.2'per cent. During the year 667 operations were performed with only 9 deaths, giving the very low death rate of U 34 per cent. The causes of death were: Abdominal cancer 3,'fraet-ur-r ed skull 2, ruptured gastric ulcer 1, ruptured appendix 1, tuberca of bowel 1, diphtheria 1. The commonest cause for operation was appendicitis. There were 127 cases of this complaint, with only one death. INFECTIOUS DISEASES.

There had been a great increase in the number of scarlet fever and diphtheria cases compared withgthe previous year, and there was also an outbreak of typhoid fever at Muhunoa and several Maoris were admitted from there. For infectious diseases the death rate had been 1.3 per cent.