UNDER MEDICAL TREATMENT.

Shannon News, 22 March 1929, Page 2

UNDER MEDICAL TREATMENT.

ONZ IN TWENTY ENTEES HOSPITAL. PUBLIC CrENEEALLY TAKING AD WANTAGE. Daring the coarse of his address at the opening- of the Hospital : JBoards eonf. reneb in .I'aimefston North on Tuesday, the Minuter of Healt'A (Hon. A. J. Stallworthy) remarked nlbon the steady growth it; number of patients treated at public hospitals in New Zealand a id quoted digui -s which disclosed the ext ent to whceii the public generally were taking advantage of the facilities at the various hospitals.' ' During' the year 1027 the dotal admissions to public hospitals (other than maternity hospitals) in New Zealand,, number C 5,303. There wore 445 patients in hospital at the begiuniaig of the year, the tt-fal cases tier:lt "with during the yedr being thus 72,755, equal to 50b per 10,000 of mean population, including Maoris or, one person, out of every 20 persons in the Dominion received some degree of medical treatment in . public hospitals in 1927. ' .

These figures rcvpal a 'considerable increase over those for the previous year, and .give, seme idea of the rate at'which treatments in public/hospitals» are increasing. As may be seen from comparative figures, the number of patients treated increased front '43.847 in 1&28 *to 72.755 in .1927. -During the same period the rate rose from 405 per 10,000 .of population .to 506. Judging by ihe rale' alone these figures represent an increase of 25 per cent, or an average annual increase of six per cent. Over such a short period as four years these increases are remarkable, and disclose the extent to which the public generally are taking advantage of the facilities for medical treatment which are placed "at their disposal by the various public hospitals. The above figures relate only to indoor patients treated in. public hospitals. Jf there be added the number of out-patients treated by the public hospitals (49,748 'during the 12 months ended March 31st, 1927), -the number of patients treated in private hospitals, and those receiving medical treatment in their own homes, it will probably be found that-at least one out of every ten persons in the population was under medical treatment . 'during the year. These figures do not cover the whole field of sickness, as there is also to be considered the condition of which do not warrant the calling in of a medical practitioner. r f ,

From figures given in the > appendix to the annual report of the Department of Health, it . would appear that the average duration in hospital in Tespect of each admission is approximately 21 days. On this basis, sickness as represented by treatment in the public hospitals alone aggregated nearly 220,000 weeks for the year 1927. The aggregate represents slightly more'than one day for eaqh person in the Dominion.