The Sun. 42 WYNDHAM STREET. AUCKLAND WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1929 A HOSPITAL SERVICE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 563, 16 January 1929, Page 8

The Sun. 42 WYNDHAM STREET. AUCKLAND WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1929 A HOSPITAL SERVICE

MEMBERS of the medical profession have ample reason to he surprised—as they undoubtedly are—at the tenor of remarks made by the chairman of the Auckland Hospital Board yesterday, when Mr. Wallace expressed the fear that honorary surgeons were not paying sufficient attention to their patients in the institution. It is unfortunate that he did not make the observation in more specific terms. As chairman of the board, and a gentleman of long experience in hospital affairs, Mr. Wallace should be in a position to know what is happening. Moreover, he should know the full extent of the implications involved. At the same time, he should cite chapter and verse in support of his charge. The vague uneasiness likely to be aroused would then have some foundation. For the moment there is none, and on the other side of the picture there is indignation among the surgeons over what they consider an unwarranted attack. Though it is part of world-wide practice for doctors to give their services free in aid of the great humanitarian work carried on by hospitals, the public knows surprisingly little about the details of the system. At first glance it would seem surprisingthat a number of surgeons should give so much of their time for no return. It is absolutely forbidden that they receive any return whatever for work done in hospital, and only in special eases is any payment made by the Hospital Board. There is therefore a definite element of sacrifice about the work carried on by the honorary surgeons. At the same time, there are definite rewards in the shape of valuable experience with all sorts of cases, practice with the up-to-date equipment usually found in big hospitals, and the good connection formed among grateful ex-patients. The honorary staff is appointed by ballot after the qualifications of its individual members have been carefully examined. It follows that the staff is composed of able and skilful men. Therefore it is a handsome tribute to be appointed, and the ambitious surgeon values the appointment for this reason alone. In return, the doctor gives a vast amount of time and labour to the hospital and its patients. Apart altogether from the benefits to himself, he is carrying on the medical profession’s great traditions of service. To suggest that the honorary surgeons are deliberately “slacking” is to make a very grave reflection on their professional integrity. It is a thrust at the lofty principles on which the structure of idealism in service has been raised. There are many popular misconceptions about doctors. One of them is that as soon as a medical man tacks up his brass plate, he automatically becomes a man of means. What is really true is that his struggle, in a world of competition, is only just beginning. Though his earnings are small, he must keep up appearances. It may take him several years to overhaul the deficit created by his years of study and the outlay incurred when setting up for himself. Should he he a specialist, the difficulties are aggravated. He has a wider margin to reduce. By the time he has some sort of prosperity assured, he may have become an honorary surgeon at the hospital. Now, is it fair that the specialist, who has spent years in study and thousands of pounds in acquiring his knowledge and skill, should he called on to pay unnecessary calls on a patient who is safely convalescing, in the most capable hands, after a more or less routine operation? It is on the failure of the surgeons to observe some such scale of duties that Mr. Wallace’s charges seem to be based. Mr. Wallace has since stated that he merely wishes to get the duties of the honorary staff defined. That being so. it is an excellent purpose to serve; hut a more tactful method of doing it might have .been found.