The Telephone. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1884. MEDICAL FEATURES.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 52, 29 January 1884, Page 2

The Telephone. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1884. MEDICAL FEATURES.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the troubles, trials, and difficulties of a medical man —especially in a widelyscattered colonial district —are of a most harrassing description ; there are few other professions that entail such an amount of mental strain and bodily exertion as does that of the practice of medicine. At all hours of the day and night a doctor is liable to be called upon to attend a patient—to enter a noisome habitation, perhaps, and endure the pain of witnessing poverty and distress in their worst forms, in addition to risking contagion, and carrying the seeds of virulent diseases into the bosom of his family. Yet, how seldom do people turn a thought to the cares and anxieties of a medical man I It is sufficient that when a member of a family falls suddenly sick, a rush is made for the doctor—no matter at what hour of the day or night j and should the invalid be speedily brought to a state of convalescence through the careful and skilful treatment of the physician too much praise cannot be lavished on him by the doting father or mother who has experienced very much joy through the recovery of a dearlybeloved child. Yet, after the day of trouble had passed, and the bloom of health returned to the late invalid’s cheeks, how little attention is usually paid to the requirements of the modical mau who has effected the cure I In too many instances he has—as many of the Magistrates' Courts’ reports testify—to send in his bill repeatedly before he can get a settle, ment—even from those who are in a position to meet their pecuniary liabilities, We remember visiting a medical friend, in a country district in Otago, on one occasion, when he had just returned from a long ride, with his clothes wet through, and on our putting the question to him as to the extent of his practice, he replied—" My dear boy, I am doing a business of about £1,500 a year ; I have to keep three horses, and yet I find a difficulty in getting in from £3OO to £5OO annually I” And this was in what may be considered a prosperous district. Of course, the £1,500 a year did not include charges for all the work done ; for there were several poor persons this worthy doctor had given his advice to gratis, and there is no doubt that many other medical men are to be credited with similar acts of generosity. So that a doctor’s life is not always a very happy one. Taking this district, for instance,—a medical man has deemed it advisable to seek another sphere for his usefulness ; and yet there should be quite sufficient practice in Poverty Bay—although its climate is a healthy one—for two physicians. No doubt the financial difficulty is the lever that shifts the medical gentleman who is about to take his departure from the Bay, and, therefore, it rests with the settlers here to decide whether they will offer sufficient encouragement—by settling their doctors' bills without delay—to retain the services of two medical men in this district. Dr. Pollen is .a very old resident of Gisborne—has been ever ready to attend the sick in any “ walk in life,” and is anchored with a family to bring up ; therefore, it is to be hoped that he is not troubled with the usual

pecuniary difficulties attendant oil members of the profession But, be that as it may, we desire to impress on the settlers of this district the necessity that exists—apart from the justness of the claims—of paying their doctors’ bills promptly ; so that proper encouragement may be offered to a second doctor to make Gisborne his place of residence, as well as a proper equivalent tendered to Dr. Pollen for au untiring performance of his arduous duties. This question is a most serious one. Supposing that an epidemic broke out here, and no proper medical advice could be obtained, very many families might have cause to deplore the absence of a medical man, Then, there is no surety that Dr. Poht.EN, although an old resident in the district, And having many family ties here, would be inclined to remain, unless his bills were paid within a reasonable time. We would think that this consideration should induce people to settle their medical accounts readily ; for the majority of people in this, or any other locality, of course prefer a doctor they are well-ac-quainted with to a perfect stranger. The subject of the medical difficulty does not require much consideration — the only trouble is of a remediable pecuniary character, and We repeat that——if the settlers in this district desire to retain the services of properlyqualified physicians, they must pay up their doctors’ bills, and liquidate liabilities for “medical comforts,” without putting their creditors in the unpleasant position of having recourse to legal proceedings for the recovery of what is justly due to them. We hope these few pertinent remarks on “ medical features’ 1 will be taken in ; the spirit in which they are meant, ; and that it will not come within our province to record a similar position here as that occupied by our medical friend in Otago.