Mr. Wallace Sorry

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 587, 13 February 1929, Page 6

Mr. Wallace Sorry

SURGEONS AND THEIR DUTY

What a Patient Told Him

1111 LEX the ehairman of the Auckland Hosp tal Board, Mr. V? W. Wallace, said recently that too many patients at the hospital were being “left to the tender mercies of the junior resident doctors.” he did not intend to impute neglect by the honorary medical staff. This assurance he gave franklv ■ • evening to representatives of the staff who challenged him before the board to substantiate his charges—or withdraw. Mr. Wallace assured the doctors further that he personally knew of no ease of neglect at the hospital, his imputations having been based upon information given him by a patient there.

rr»Hi; statements which the chairman had made were reported from a meeting of the hospital board held in January, when Mr. Wallace repeated the complaint of patients, who said they were not receiving sufficient attention from the "honoraries.” The chairman said: I am afraid many patients are being left to the tender mercies of the junior residents,” and added that many patients were operated on and did not see their doctors again. This statement, the representatives of the honorary staff said, was considered to be a slur upon their work, and a defamation upon the conduct of the Auckland Public Hospital. It was explained last evening by Dr. !•;. H. B. Milsom .that the members of the honorary staff denied any knowledge of neglect, and deprecated the remarks made by the chairman and reported in the Press before the complaint had been reported to the correct quarter. They asked for substantiation of tho allegations or their withdrawal.

medical colleagues, and said it was hard for the honorary staff to read in the public Press that they were not doing their job. In the first place this was not true, and in the second place the allegation should have been investigated within the institution instead of going out to the public unsubstantiated. Mr. "Wallace assured the board members and the doctors present that neither directly nor indirectly had he made any charge against any member of the honorary staff. The remarks which had caused this trouble had been passed during a general discussion in which the conditions of appointment to the honorary medical staff was being discussed. A resolution was passed authorising the finance committee to report upon these conditions so that the board members and the medical men themselves might know what they were expected to do. Since then he had been looking up the by-laws, and found that the honorary doctors were expected to take charge of every patient admitted to the hospital in wards allotted to them, and w r atch their requirements while under treatment. The members of the honorary staff themselves would know whether or not this was being done. ‘‘l am not going to give to the honorary staff information which was given to me in confidence by a patient in the hospital,” Mr. Wallace went on. Another by-law provided that the members of the honorary staff should sign the register on arrival and departure from the hospital. Was this done, he asked? Dr. Grant: Is it not done? Mr. Wallace: It is not done. WAS IT THE PRESS? Dr. Milsom: If we did sign the register every time, we would have to do it many times a day. Dr. Grant: That is not the charge. You are charging us with neglect. Mr. Wallace: lam not. I wanted the general conditions of appointment drawn up. Dr. Grant: Have you been misreported? Mr. Wallace: The Press does not give an account of the general discussion which took place. I am not responsible for what appears in the Press. It is like reading a paragraph from a book without reading the context of the book. No member of the board has spoken more highly than I of the honorary medical staff. Dr. Grant: That is so. Dr. Milsom: Well, why not withdraw this? Mr. Wallace: I have nothing to withdraw.

“The members of the staff are not taking this action out of any wounded feelings of self-respect,” Dr. Milsom said, "although naturally they feel it very much, as they did not expect the chair man to make such ungenerous remarks about them. But it is entirely for the efficiency and the reputation of the hospital—which is as valuable to them as it is to the members of the board—that they are here. We desire tho efficiency of the hospital, which cannot be maintained by airing grievances in the Press. We do not want to attack anyone, nor indulge in any ‘mud-slinging/ but we think the public should not have been excited to apprehension and alarm. ‘‘These statements have caused alarm among those who are sick and suffering in the hospital. Mr. Wallace said he desired to help the public. It is nothing of the sort. His statements have caused apprehension and fear for the reputation of the hospital/’ Mr. Carrick Robertson supplemented the viewpoint of the honorary staff, and said the complaint should have been investigated by the medical superintendent. The board chairman had been asked to name a specific case of neglect, but instead he had repeated his complaint in the form of innuendo. GROUNDLESS APPREHENSION The staff desired to work in harmony with the chairman, but on this occasion the chairman’s remarks had caused a great deal of groundless apprehension among the relatives of hospital patients. Dr. A. McGregor Grant supported his

Dr. Milsom: You have affected the harmony of the hospital, and cast a stigma upon it. Mr. Wallace: If I have * am sorry. If I have trodden on the corns of the honorary staff I am equally sorry. But if the cap fits, then you will have to wear it. Dr. Milsom: Do I understand you to sav that this statement cannot be regarded as a general charge of neglect against the hospital? . . Mr. Wallace: Ido not think that is so. • I am not responsible for what is reported. Dr. Grant: Why did you not say so when this report appeared? Mr. Wallace: The staff would not meet me. Dr. Grant: You would not explain. Mr. M. J. Coyle: Is or is not this Press report correct? Mr. Wallace: It is, but they have left out the context. “ONLY A LAYMAN” Mr. Coyle (to the medical men) : Is it a fact that you attend the patients but omit to sign the register. Dr. Milsom: "We would have to sign the register sometimes four times a day. Mr. Wallace: It is rare for you to visit a patient four times in a day. How are the medical men going to do their duty if they do not see a patient for a week? Dr. Grant: Now, you are placing yourself in the position of a professional man, but you are only a layman, and do not know how many times we have to visit.

Mr. Wallace: How many times do you visit your private patients? Dr. Grant: Just about as many times as my public hospital patients. Mr. Wallace: 1 know all about that. Dr. Grant; I beg your pardon. Mr. Wallace: I said I know all about that. Dr. Grant: You cannot know. Mr. Wallace: No, because I am a layman. Members of the board discussed the position from its different angles, the general agreement among them pointing to their belief that the chairman had meant nothing against the medical staff when he passed his remarks at the January meeting. Mr. Coyle asked for a fair trial for the medical men. HOSPITAL DEFAMED Dr. Milsom complained that the chairman had displayed lack of confidence in the medical superintendent by not reporting the patient’s complaint to him for investigation. Mr. Wallace: I am not going to saV 1 am sorry I made the remarks. If I have trodden on the corns of anyone—. Dr. Milsom: It is not that. It is defamation of the Auckland hospital—an institution you have been striving to make second to none in Australasia. You speak of the "tender mercies of the residents,” but these men are picked by you from the best men that are offering . . . The honorary staff is responsible for the patients, and it is unlikely that resident doctors who are not competent would be placed in charge during their absence. Mr. Coyle (to the chairman): Have you at any time found any evidence of inefficiency with the medical staff? Mr. Wallace: Personally, no. Mr. J. Rowe: Has the superintendent? Dr. Maguire (medical superintendent) : None. Several members of the board tried at this stage to pour oil upon the increasingly choppy waters,, but in the main their efforts at conciliation merely aroused their colleagues at opposite sides of the tables. At one stage five members tried to talk at once, and the restoration of order was difficult. Mr. E. U. Potter and Mr. W. K.

Howitt joined in a general eulogy of the honorary staff, and tried to smooth the way for an acceptance of the chairman’s explanation. It was made clear that Mr. Wallace, whatever he had said, had meant to cast no reflection upon the medical men. PEOPLE’S HEALTH FIRST Mr. M. J. Savage said the general health of the people was the paramount consideration, and he urged the shelving of all other considerations. Some difficulty was experienced toward the close of the meeting, when the medical men asked for a definite opinion from the board as to the attitude of the chairman. “We are representing 36 medical men on the honorary staff,” Dr. Milsom said, "and when we return this evening we want to give them something definite. If it is assured by the chairman that he had no intention of casting a reflection upon the honorary staff, and that he knows of no case of neglect, I think that will satisfy my colleagues . . .” Dr. Grant: Yes, and if he says he is sorry that . . . Mr. J. Rowe: Now, doctor, you are a racing man, so do not make the hurdle too high for the chairman to jump. The Chairman: I have made it clear that I intended to cast no reflection individually or collectively upon the honorary staff. I personally know of no case of neglect. Dr. Milsom: Are we assured that future complaints will be referred to Dr. Maguire? Mr. Howitt: Now, leave it to the secretary to draft the letter. We all know the feeling of the chairman and that of the board. The meeting finished on the understanding that the honorary medical staff would receive a letter from the secretary of the board incorporating the chairman’s attitude, and embracing also the view of the board members. Dr. C. IT. Tewsley supported his colleagues in their representations.