Surgeons Criticise Hospital System

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 327, 12 April 1928, Page 8

Surgeons Criticise Hospital System

MINISTER WAITED ON "FIRST AND SECOND-CLASS” (J-rom Oar Resident Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Tcedar Various suggestions concern;! the control of hospitals in t h. Dominion were placed before the Minister of Health, the Hon. j, A. Young, by a deputation repr e . senting the New Zealand delegates to the recent conference of the College of Surgeons. The question of community hospitaij, was discussed. r spokesman. Sir Louis said that surgeons, alter iiis their examination, should serve „ toas- Terio-’ of hospital apprenticeship, under Gii. supervision of t hi senior surgeon. Tne “ that surgeons would prefer to taai-’ tain the honorary system of treement for patients who could not afford to pay fees. He said it was desk able to have a system that would rfo the younger surgeons of abibtv chance. EXPENSE STUMBLING BLOCK With reference to community hov pitals. the conference favoured a s ,. c tern under which all classes would b, received for treatment, replacing the present unsatisfactory system of small private hospitals. They realised tha expense was the stumbling block, bewere striving for the ideal of cor munity treatment. In the meantime it would be necessary to impror? some private hospitals. He considered that because publn hospitals had a large laundry tni other special services which priva;« hospitals lacked, the former could pr! vide wards and services at a cheap.rate. In reply to a question from the Minister. Sir Louis said it was impossible to get away from first and second-class accommodation in hospitals, any more than on trains and steamers. The Minister said that such die. sion might bring about a radical change in the attitude of the pubii* toward the present system. Therj was nothing in the nature of pauper, ism in the present system, and the public feared anything of that sort. Sir Louis read another -solution advocating centralisation of the con trol of hospitals. HONORARY SERVICES The Minister, replying, said the dpartment appreciated their aims anobjects in raising the standard of au: geons and would help in providing fayoung, promising surgeons. in regard to the present system of honcrary services, all classes were treated alike and patients were not asked to pay if they could rot afford iL The’-? was nothing in the present law t» prevent a hospital board from mating experiments with private wards, and the department would not object except to ensure that expenditure wss kept within reasonable limits. With regard to the centralisation of control, it wan a political question oa which his department took one view and Parliament another. Parliament had established the system of separate hospital districts. Personally, he thought there vet more hospitals than was desirable I* the most efficient administration at the medical services of the counfwr He did not hold out much hope for*a central board as advocated by 3k Louis.