COMBINED BUYING

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12604, 15 November 1926, Page 8

COMBINED BUYING

HOSPITAL EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES MEETING OF ' HOSPITAL REPRESENTATIVES. Under the auspices of the Department of Health and the New Zealand Hospital Boards’ Association, a special committee of hospital purchasing officers met on Wednesday and Thursday at the association’s offices for the purpose of formulating a suggested scheme of combined buying by hospital boards and also determining standard specifications for certain articles of common use in hospital. It is a notable fact that although under the present system of financing hospitals their interests are closely interwoven, all the 47 hospital boards in the Dominion, and in some cases the several institutions under a hospital board, proceed almost entirely on independent lines in the important matter of purchasing. The object of the scheme at present in hand is, of course, to promote economical and efficient buying, and the idea has been accepted that this will be better achieved by making available to the smaller institutions the services of the experienced personnel of the larger hospitals by group buying and co-operation generally. It is the committee’s task to suggest the detail procedure to effect this purpose. CONSIDERABLE SAVINGS. STANDARDISATION. One of the fruits of independent buying in the past is an unnecessarily wide range of sizes and qualities or many articles of common use in hospital. Following the example of modern industry there is not the slightest doubt that considerable savings may be effected by reducing the number of types of such articles. As a step in this direction the committee has been given the further task of submitting definite recommendations for the standardisation of a few specific articles, which no doubt will be added to and revised from time to time. The actual adoption of the recommendations is a matter for the hospital boards, and the committee’s report is expected to be one of the subjects for consideration at the Hospital Boards’ Conference to be held at Christchurch on March 2nd and 3rd next. The members of the committee are Messrs W. S. Wharton, secretary North Canterbury Board (’chairman); E. I. Lyell, manager Auckland Hospital ; Dr. Macdonald Wilson, medical superintendent, and W. E. Labone, house steward, Wellington Hospital; A. Russell, controller of stores, North Canterbury Hospital Board; W. Downs, controller of stores, Otago Board; and F. ,T. Fenton, inspecting house manager, Department of Health.