STRATFORD HOSPITAL

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 12, 14 January 1914, Page 7

STRATFORD HOSPITAL

INTERESTING STATISTICS. At the meeting of the Stratford Hospital and Charitable* Aid Board yesterday the Chairman (.Mt J. McAllister) gave the following comparisons relating to the administration and expenses of the Stratford Hospital, and that of others in the district (as taken from the Annual Government report for the past year) which should prove of interest to our readers.

Gentlemen, —The annual report issued by the Department is before you and by indulgence of the Board I should like to make some remark:-; on it, noting more particularly how our hospital compares will the neighboring institutions. First of all, i would call your attention to the rates levied by the various boards. This is shown in the last return printed in the book. In some favor ed districts tiie rates are very lowin one instance, being only onetwentieth of a penny. The highest in the Dominion as -loth of a penny. Taranaki Boards are shown as follows:—New Plymouth one-tenth, Ha. wera one-tenth, Stratford one-ninth, and Patea one-eighteenth. This show.; Patea as easily the lowest, but another aspect is revealed by a stud;, of table XII., which shows the nel amount per head for expenditure other than capital—. New Plymouth expends 5s Stratford 4s 7|d. Hawera 4s tiijd, and Patea Gs J^d. The return showing, the oxpenditur per occupied bed is interesting. Tak ing provisions, dispensary, and dome:, tic establishment together, Stratror..

is easily the lowest, and althoug our salaries and wages are much more than, the other Taranaki hoards,, and indeed, higher than any other boar.' in our class, yet on the' cost per be;, we are only £l6 above the averag for the whole of the Dominion—com pared with Hawera £4O Bs. Jus here I would like to say that thes comparisons are not made boastfully. nor is there any intention to criti cise the other boards. If we can congratulate ourselves in some particulars, there are others in whici we would do well to learn from on neighbours. In the return showing details o. "salaries and wages," Stratford ap pears to be the highest in Taranak in the "medical" column. In- th total expenditure we come third on of the four with whom this comparison is being made, and this is in keepin.v with the average number of occupies l beds per day. One is agreeably sur prised to find that our coal and ligh bill is comparatively light, the tota for coal and wood being approximate! £27 less than Hawera, and slight!; less than Patea. Our electric ligh account is only a fraction of that o Hawera and New Plymouth, and on! about 2-3rds of Patea. Renewal an repair of furniture only cost us £ Is 7d, but hardware, which, I pre sume, includes crockery, comes to £2 2s lid, nearly lis per week. In thi; respect, we compare very unfavor ably with our neighbors. In th matter of surgery and dispensary, oil expenditure is lower than any otlie: in Taranaki by about £lO. Table IV. is an interesting one, a^ it shows the cost per occupied bee 1 of the various items, provisions, ad ministration, etc. For provisions all the Taranaki hospitals are abov the Dominion average, Stratford bein; £3O, compared with New Plymouth £27; Hawera £3B, and Patea £- (fractions omitted); the Dominioi average is £23 Bs. The iten I (surgery and 'dispensary) shows Strat J ford well below the Dominion' aver' age, with £7 7s, New Plymouth, Ha wera, and Patea being £22 Is, £2; 4s, and £l3 2s respectively; the Do minion average is £9 9s. Domesth and Establishment column shows Nev Plymouth and Patea below the Domin ion average, Stratford slightly, an< Hawera very much above; theaverag' is £26, Xew Plymouth, Hawera Stratford and Patea being respectively £2l, £93, £32, and £2l (fraction:omitted). Salaries and wages show; Xew Plymouth below the average, the other three being very much abov Xew Plymouth, Hawera, Stratford and Patea are respectively* £3B, £77 £75, and £57; the average is £4O (fractions omitted in each instance). Taking the total administration and maintenance together, the Taranaki institutions cost considerably more titan the average per occupied bed. the figures being New Plymouth £lls. Hawera £252, Stratford £l6l, and Patea £133; the Dominion average ie £lO5. The highest is Otira £454., and the lowest Thames £6O (fractions omitted). in table three, showing Hospital statistics for the year ending March, 1013, our local institution shows remarkably well. In the column showing patients' payments per occupied bed, Stratford is easily first with £SO 2s, as compared with New Plymouth £l3 10s, Hawera £39 10s, and Patea £25 Os. In this connection, there are only two boards in the Dominion who can show a better return than Stratford, namely Wangnnui with £53 10s and Otira with £6O. In the latter case, however, the average cost per bed is the highest in the Dominion and reaches the substantial sum of £lsl, as has already been stated; only one other hospital (Akaron) exceeding. £4OO. The lowest return for patients' payments in the Dominion is Taumarnniii, which only collected £7 12s. bu! there are three hospitals which do not return any income from this source, viz., Dunstan, Cromwell, and Demiiston. Members' travelling expenses are apparently not paid by the Patea Board. The amounts paid by the other boards in tins connection were Xew Plymouth £Bl, Stratford £35, Hawera £SO. The amount paid for

charitable aid was £370, compared with New Plymouth £1548, Hawera £-588, and Patea £BB. In the mattor of subscription and donations, New Plymouth received nearly lour times the amount contributed to the other boards, their income from that source totalling £215 odd. Stratford was the only Board who had a Hospital Saturday. £154 being, collected. Patea came in for a bequest amounting to £234.

Taken altogether, the report is such as will confirm the board's confidence in the secretary, the superintendent and the matron for the way in whicti the hospital has been managed, as it is mainly due to their zeal and ability that our hospital lias such a good record.

Tn the foregoing comparison, it: must always be borne in mind thai che number of occupied beds (average) is in New Plymouth 43, Hn-u-era 13, Stratford 12, Patea 10.