“VERY FULL”

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 29, 27 April 1927, Page 13

“VERY FULL”

HOSPITAL CONGESTION PROBLEM FOR BOARD “During the past year the hospital has been very full and considerable difficulty has arisen at times to find beds for patients,” says the medical superintendent in his report to the Auckland Board. “To a certain extent this difficulty could be overcome if there were more co-operation between the hospital and the Auckland infirmary. Patients eminently suitable for the infirmary hold up beds at times which are required for urgent cases, as it sometimes takes 14 or 21 days after application has been made for the transfer of a patient before such transfer is effected. “The provision of cubicles for isolating suspected infectious cases will release a number of beds for use in the general wards.” In another part of his report, Dr. C. E. Maguire says: “At times the demand for beds in the general wards, especially in the surgical wards, exceeds the supply; and the patients have to wait for admission. Urgent cases and accidents are, of course, admitted at once.

“The population of Auckland is always on the increase, as there seems to be a constant migration of population towards the north. The board may be faced with the question of further accommodation for patients in the not very distant future.”