SOLDIER OUT-PATIENTS.

Taihape Daily Times, 27 June 1919, Page 6

SOLDIER OUT-PATIENTS.

, I ' A MEDICAL OVERHAUL. ‘ " ‘WELLINGTON; this daY The Medical Branch of the Defence Department Jhas decided tofisct up a Special Medical Board. for the pur-‘pose-of examining all soldiers who are out-patients at all hospitals in New Zealand. This Board will travel over the Whole 01' New Zealand w‘i‘tlT a View to classifying these cases. In addition to returned soldiers ae’cu:l'lTy attending as outpatients, ‘it is believed that there may be some disabled men who received their discharge before the possibilfiies opened up by the recent advances in military‘ orthopaedic surgery and other kinds of treatment. of war disabilities had developed. Any disabled men in this condtion who desire their ?:’2'Lses~ F 0 be reviewed by.the Travelling Medi— ‘ cal Board should at once comznunicate with the Assistant Director of Medi—cal Sol'ViC€s of their Military District (Aucklaiid, Wellington, Canterbury or Otago). That officer will then larrange that these men are l brought before the» Board in the { course of its itinerary. _, ~

' Cases requiring treatment will be sent to the most suitable hospital for inpatient treatment, sothat‘ they may get greater benefit. Other outpatients have reached .a stationary ‘position in regard to their disability and where «the Board is satisfied that fie further good can be ‘done, they Wm be boarded out, and their péifsion finally adjusted. As the Defence Department has now a complete series of hospitals for specialist treatment, the Medical Board Will be able‘ in ‘many cases to recommend transfers of patients to the hospital in which their particular disability will be dealt with by a specially trained ‘staff. Soldier patients in the civil hospitals are tosbe included in limbless cases- and those requiring operative treatment. Every patient will have his case considered with a View to providing hinl with the best treatment available in the Dominion. The policy of the Department is not to allow its soldier patients to indefinitely drift. The Board comprises a Consulting Surgeon to the Forces‘, and a Surgeon who has had a wide experience on 'a Hospital Ship and in Military Hospitals. It will be able to determine what can be done to improve the condition of the patient, and to definitely decide if nothing further can be done by medical science, in which‘"case the soldier will have his pension permanently. arranged, and will be able to take advantages of the facilities provided by the State for the ass,‘ist.ance of disabled men to learn special occupations suitable for ‘them, It is anticipated that this Board will require several months to complete its itinerary. It is hoped that any discharged soldiers on permanent pension who consider they may be benefitted by further treatment will report, as indicated, to the Assistant Director of Medical Services of their district. This will clearly be entirely fo tTl'eil‘ advantage, as although their physical condition may be improved, their pension, if already made permanent, cannot be reduced. . "