PAPAROA HOSPITAL

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 949, 16 April 1930, Page 12

PAPAROA HOSPITAL

INVESTIGATION FOLLOWING DEATHS CHANGES RECOMMENDED Press Association WELLINGTON, Today. As the result of an investigation curHed out on behalf of the Minister of Health, the Hon. A. J- Stallworthy, the director of the hospitals division of the Department of Health, Hr. It. A. Shore, is of the opinion that the Otamatea Memorial Hospital should not continue to function both as a general arid maternity hospital. The Minister received Hr. Shore’s report yesterday and announces that suitable action will be taken to follow uut its recommendations. Hr. Shore’s report covt rs the follow- *- *planation can be given accounting for the cases of sepsis: <2> whether it would be wise to run the hospital as a mix* d gen >ral and maternity hospital and. if so. whether structural alterations are necessary; (3) whether it would bo better to limit the hospital to either maternity or general cases. "It was apparent from discussions by members of the board that in some quarters there is a lack of confidence in the hospital,” said Hr. Shore in his report. "The staff consisted of a matron, sister, one hospital aid, one domestic and one porter. The accommodation included a male ward containing three l> ds and one cot. a female ward of six ' • • “The women’s ward serves the double function of a general hospital ward and e report. Vs far as possible, however, no woman p llent admit ed with any septic condition is admitted to the female, ward. If the male ward is empty such cases are accommodated there, otherwise tlir y are placed in the operating theatre the observation ward. Xo matter where these cases are situated, however, they must be ati.ended by the same staff as looks after the maternity cases.” 18 SEPTIC CASES (’ontinuing, Hr. Shore reported that f..r the year ended on March 31 last, ;:s maternity cases were admitted to tiro hospital. Three of them could be out down as being definitely puerperal pticacmfa. two of whom died. In addition, thero wore ten other maternity cases whose charts in his opinion that the patients suffered from puer- ]. i ! morbidity. Thus 13 cases classed >s showing some, degree* of infection '■•'.is an unduly high proportion, as the functioned also as a general hospital. The hospital register showed ihat during the same period IS cases w.-ro admitted for some septic infeci : on.

"It will be obvious to anyone who i tudies the conditions prevailing at tho Otamatea Hospital that the undue amount of puerperal infection was due almost entirely to the fact that this is a mixed hospital.” lie said. "If these conditions ni ilowed to persist further serious trouble will be encountered.’* Or. Shore, therefore, recommended that the hospital should not continue to function both as a general and a maternity hospital: that the needs of the district would not warrant any great expenditure in structural alterations to enable the dual functions to be carried out: that tie- hospital should be looked upon mainly as a maternity hospital, hut in order to meet the needs of the district clean medical or surgical cases could bo admitted. That except in urent emergency no general cases exhibiting any septic condition of any nature should be admitted and that a high pressure steriliser of a particular type should be provided to enable better asepsis to be secured. !• urther that when a maternity case showed any sign of infection the Te Kopuru Hospital should provide a special nurse and thus free the normal nursing staff of the Otamatea Hospital. Such a procedure. said Hr. Shore, would, of course only be necessary if such a number of maternity cases were in the hospital that one member of the nursing stufi could not be delegated entirely to the nursing of the infected cases.