The Telephone. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, FRIDAY, MAY 16.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 133, 16 May 1884, Page 2

The Telephone. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, FRIDAY, MAY 16.

The explicit report of the Sub-Com-mittee appointed to inquire into the comparative Hospital expenditure so far as rations, fuel and medicaments were concerned, stands out in contradistinction to the Hudibrastic display which was gone through at the late meeting and so-called inquiry. We have little doubt but what it will go far in counteracting the bad opinion which has been engendered in the public mind, not alone*against the actual performers but also against those who could countenance such a shallow farcical performance as that indulged in on the i6ih ult. The report reflects the greatest credit upon those gentlemen whose names are attached thereto, and its tone renders it quite unnecessary on our part to add much to the rebuke conveyed thereby to their own body, and we are content to remark that it more tha~ fully bears out all that has b :n s d by us with respect to n. nr . it. The report is undeniably the fir-t wholesome step in a right direction, and has already borne good fruit. But there are matters which lie entirely outside the questions which the Sub-Committee were empowered to enquire into, and which demand explanation before the public mind can be relieved and confidence restored. Notwithstanding that the Wardsman thou_ t fit to state, and the Committee to accept the statement that there had been nine patients admitted into the Hospital during the month of March, we take the liberty of distinctly denying the truth of such an assertion, and challenge the proof. If the Committee are sincere in their wish to do their duty, both tu the public and the institution, the_ .rill lose no time in taking the necessc. y steps for settling this much-vexed question. If there were nine patients in the Hospital during that peric '., surely the medical officer must have been aware of it, and most assuredly would not have distinctly stated before the Committee that there had been but one. As a fact, we are in possession of sufficient information upon this point to justify the assertion that some of those gentlemen who a short time ago evinced such a willingness to accept any dictum whereby they could escape from the parnful truths which have been forced upon their attention, now know equally with ourselves that the statemement laid before the Committee of investigation was not alone misleading, but also utterly opposed to the truth ; and that instead of an average of five-and-a-half patients for the month it was really but tivo. How then is the excessive accounts for the corresponding term to be accounted for? Need we go any further for a confirmation of our statement than the Sub-committee’s report ? The funds of the Hospital has gradually increased, and the average number of patients has proportionately decreased, while the expenses of maintaining the smaller number has been in excess of that expended for the larger number. The average of patients resident in the Hospital has been three-and-a-half for the last nine months, as against five-and-three-quarters for a like previous period. The three-and-a-half cost ns. 2d. per head per day giving a total of say 19s. id. per day for them. For a corresponding period of the previous year the average was five-and-a-half patients per day. This 5-} cost but 6s. 9|d. per head per day, giving a total of say £1 18s. nd. Thus we see that it has cost 2 more per day during the last nine mo. .hs to keep 3I patients than it did to keep 5J during a like period of the previous year. Such evident facts -r> mount of blusterer falsehood car; 'rove. The next matter which tiie renort brings to light is, that whilst the in- tiiution is caring for 3I patients it h. s .0 support a Wardsman, Matron, two children, and a servant, with an occasional help. In other words, th? attendance is in the ratio of (including children—and they seem to have been made the most of on the other hand) five to three-and-a-half patients. One would think this enough, but there is also special attendants mentioned in the report as having been engaged for 180 days during the latter period. According to Mr. Graham’s assertion, the Hospital used to be managed by one woman and a boy help, but now it requires five. Seeing that an alteration is about to be made in this d' t'on we will only remark that the question amply proves another feature of past mismanagement. The rations and medicine also show an increase d ng the same period somewhere about one-fourth their actual cost. One thing is evident, viz., that nothing can be urged in explanation of these glaring facts, and the public are left to make their own conclusions. Another fact which cropped up at the last meeting calls for remark, and that is the remarkable assertion made by Mr. Matthewson to the effect that the sub - committee were unable to go further back than nine months on account of the absence of reliable data to go upon. This would lead us to infer that the books of a public institution of this sort, whilst drawing a Government subsidy, and whose income is equal to that of the Borough, has been allowed to get into such a state as to render it impossible to trace back such matters as those sought for by the Committee for a longer period than nine months. If this is the case it is high time that such a disgraceful state of affairs should be remedied, as we cannot possibly see how, under the circumstances, correct returns can be made to

Government. To go no further than the matters disclosed in the report, we feel convinced that the public will agree with us when we say that it is a cause for much regret that we had not taken the matter up nine months sooner, and thereby saved much waste of public money. The Committee cannot longer plead ignorance of these matters, and having the facts placed so plainly before them, will, we are assured, take such action ere their term of office expires as to make ample amends for the want of attention hitherto given to a subject of such importance, and which involves a great amount of responsibility. We will pass over the scurrility, falsehood, and unjust insinuations which have been indulged in by those who are ready to perpetuate any wrong so long as it panders to the vitiated tastes of corrupt patrons, and console ourselves with the conviction that we have been enabled to begin a good and necessary work which will, doubtless, bring forth good fruit. All we want is the Hospital for the sick, and not for the parasites of society.