HOSPITAL STAFFING

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 693, 19 June 1929, Page 7

HOSPITAL STAFFING

COMPLAINTS TO BE DEALT WITH DISCUSSION BY BOARD “I have been somewhat perturbed by the succession of letters concerning the nursing staff which have appeared in the newspapers lately,** said Mr. W. C. Wood at yesterday's meeting of the Auckland Hospital Board. 31 R. WOOD admitted that he was a new member, and that perhaps there were circumstances unknown to him which affected the question, but he had come across many ex-patients who had endorsed the statements in the papers. He thought that the board would stultify itself if it did not attend to the complaints. Most of the complaints seemed to be based on the opinion that the hospital was understaffed. He would like to know whether that was true. He suggested that the board should hold a special meeting and receive full reports on the question from the matron and from the lady superintendent. He saw by the report that there was an alarming number of nurses absent, but if the hospital was understaffed surely it should be brought up to the right level. “Perhaps the letters in the papers are a little misleading,” said Mr. E. H. Potter. “We have an average of about. 34 nurses on sick leave and a total staff of 244. The matron has had instructions to engage 34 extra nurses if necessary so that there seems to be a perfectly reasonable average, compared with the number of patients, always on duty.” Mr. J. Rowe remarked that when Dr. T. H. A. Valintine had last visited the hospital he said that, if anything, there were too many nurses. Dr. E. B. Gunson seconded Mr. Wood’s motion that the matron and lady superintendent be asked to report to a special meeting of the board. The chairman, Mr. W. Wallace, said that whenever a request for help or additional staff had cony to the board it had never been refused. Mr. Wood moved that a series of questions be provided, which the lady superintendent should be asked to answer. The motion was carried.