PRIVATE WARDS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 773, 20 September 1929, Page 11

PRIVATE WARDS

GOVERNMENT'S POLICY NOT DECLARED HOSPITAL TOPICS DISCUSSED Press Association WELLINGTON, Thursday. Many topics concerning public hos- . pitals were discussed in the House this evening when the Minister o£ Health, the Hon. A. .T. Stallworthy, moved the second reading of the Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Amendment Bill. He said it comprised an agreement reached between the Wairaa Hospital Board and the Picton Hospital Board, and was designed to merge the two districts ; which these boards served into one district, to he called the Marlborough hospital district. Mr. J. A. Young (Hamilton! said the Bill raised the question whether ; there should be a reduction in the number of hospital districts in the Dominion. He said some districts were - merely monuments to local political 1 ambitions—worthy ambitions, it was true —hut they imposed an undue bur- ; den on local ratepayers. Mr. M. J. Savage (Auckland West) said the Minister of Health had spoken at the hospital boards’ conference in favour of the introduction of private paying wards in public hospitals, and he contended it was justifiable to assume the Minister was speaking on behalf of the Government. Mr. Savage insisted that this was a form of class distinction, and he would like to know if such a system was part of the Government’s policy. PRIVILEGES FOR ALL Mr. Savage said the Minister was advocating the erection of private wards at the public expense for the use of the richer class, who would also be able to select their own medical and surgical attention. He was in favour of as much privacy as possible, and the provision of the best medical and surgical treatment obtainable, but those privileges should be available to everyone. Continuing, Mr. Savage said it seemed the time had come for seeking some national system of financing public hospitals. The present tendency was to place on the patient as much of the cost as lie could and would bear, and the greater part of the burden then fell on the local ratepayers. Mr. A. M. Samuel (Thames) said he trusted the Minister’s statement to which Mr. Savage liad referred was not to be taken as an indication of the Government’s policy. He was satisfied no Government would countenance any policy of the kind, and he was certain that the House would not agree to it. A system of differential treatment of patients would constitute a serious injustice. PREFERENCE FOR POOR PEOPLE A long discussion followed on the question of private wards in hospitals, most of the speakers opposing the idea. Replying to Mr. Savage, the Minister said he had simply stated the pros and cons of the different aspects of the situation. He had not made a definite statement either on behalf of himself or on behalf of the Government. He was completely opposed to any differential treatment for rich and poor. Mr. Stallworthy added that while the richer classes were legally entitled to the same rights for admission to public hospitals as otlier classes, actually they did not receive tlie same consideration, as in cases in which there was pressure on the accommodation the poorer people received preference. He was satisfied the hospital system in New Zealand was second to none. The Bill was read a second time.