HOSPITAL SUPPLIES.

Otaki Mail, Volume XXVIII, 12 April 1920, Page 4

HOSPITAL SUPPLIES.

Mr W. Murdoch, at the meeting of the Palinerston North Hospital Board on Thursday last, made reference to the question of the purchase of hospital supplies from the Government, quoting in support of this being done from an article in the Journal of Public Health on the economic aspect of central buying of liospital supplies. The secretary pointed suit that the. Public Health Department had already -tarted buying supplies for hospital boards, but the Board had made its contracts for its supplies this year, and had decided that in future years it would consider about ordering through Iho Department. They wanted to see how the Department would get on about obtaining supplies before putting themselves into the hands of the De-

partment. The Chairman (Sir James Wilson) said that they might obtain some goods, such as drugs, from the Department. At the same time they depended largely on local people for support and they should get .tome articles, such as linen, locally. For their ordinary supplies it would be unwise to go past local people who were ratepayers ami who t-ook an interest in the hospital. Dr. Whitakcr said that the whole point was that, while it was certain that for a few years they would get supplies more cheaply from the Department, it was equally certain that there would be no advantage in the long run. it would menu cutting out the whole of their contract work, but at the present ■hue it' they wanted anything they generally went, to those people who had contracts from them and they got it through their generosity. If they obtained supplies from the Department :-.. believed they would lose the- whole ni' the interest displayed in the hospital work, as a good deal of that interest ,:is in spending and buying. For a •oar or tv.o they might gov. cheaper ..oods. but in the long run they would .- ■( worse goods. He instanced the case of a local contract i'or the supply of goods amounting to between £SOO and eii.ii) per year, and said that if they did not get goods of the right quality they could go elsewhere, for them. It was no good saying the Government could buy cheaper, I'or in the end if they obtained till supplies from the Government they would lose the spirit of co-opera-tion on which the hospital here was built up. It seemed to be the desire of the authorities to get complete economic, control of the, hospitals, and that the boards vote the money and have no say in the spending of it. If they went on as suggested they would get to the level of prisons, for which

everything was bought from the Government. He considered that by the proposed scheme they would lose more than they would gain.

The Chairman: We have already arranged Txir our supplies i'or this year. Mr W. Murdoch said he took exception to what Dr. Whitakcr said about making purchases from the Government, especially regarding the purchase of drugs, which were always tightly settled. Drugs bought from wholesale places sometimes had the seals broken, and the contents "broken down." If they bought their supplies from the Government their representatives in Parliament would make their voices heard if anything was wrong. There would be far less chance of being taken down if they bought through the Government instead of from profiteering merchants. He quoted from the article ill the Public Health Journal to show that £300,000 was spent

annually cm supplies for hospitals. The discussion terminated by the chairman pointing out that the matter would be dealt with at a later meeting