The Daily News THURSDAY, JANUARY 24th, 1907. THE NEW PLAYMOUTH HOSPITAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVIII, Issue 81917, 24 January 1907, Page 2

The Daily News THURSDAY, JANUARY 24th, 1907. THE NEW PLAYMOUTH HOSPITAL.

l)r j1a1..-\..'il'- slrii-lure. regarding the eon.liu-l i,( ll.e local lii.-pilill have di ) iv..el at..iifiou to the managc'iu ill . f ..ii, in iiiuii'Mi. it (li*v liiive had ;,„ „i,-r eiV.-.-i. The fiiicriu.i of our i '.'",•'.v!'"'i!.'".i, iim :hc hospital wa„il!,„ul a re.i-.'ii. singe...,. I,,'ing in vat''''' I'laci'lce! 'a'conditi'.n .„' ta.ngs ,v;neii !..■ il.s.-rilii'ii as per' •. Ily imjus- ; ilia hie a al mil in ill- in.-'iv-ti of ihe hospiial patients or ei' the p actitlon- ,„,, ~!„/ ,if ii, : . ilospilal Hoard the matter v.as alluded to. Tie chairman ~X | ,ie.M'd the opinion that the i. X ' a resident doctor—salary, 1'11.,', pi-i.valiiig ipiarl -,vs, etc.—would In' too hea-.v't'or liie linaiice-, of 'flic iioard to stand, and spoke in warm praise oi the ellieieucy of the present -vstem. ; .'

Cniler this system, we might explain, .lie head doctor receives .CilO per annum and die assistant .CIOD, plus the fees of tic- practitioners called in to a-sis. in npcralion ci-.es. Tee hospital duel or., in addition to his hospital duties, has also Lo attend in charitable aid cases. The hospital has -111 beds, with an average number ..[ inmates of .'ia. For the purpose of comparison we have taken the. trouble, since l)r DakcwvU's letter ap neai'ed, io ascertain how outside hospitals of a similar nature ollice and work (heir instiluiious. Napier, we ami, with an average uuuib-r of occupied beds, of IS and o,<). maiiilaius a resilient surgc.di, liis salaify being CMio per annum, with an allowance of I'oO per annum to atlend to the inmates of (he local "liefuge." lie is not iierniitleil to practice outside. Wangauui's hospital contains 7!) beds and a house surgeon is retained at CM) jier annum, with board and lodging. The surgeon is precluded

cept in con-ullations with oilier meiU eal men. or lh.- administering of anaesthetics. I'almersion North !l"s p'nal, wilh Lib beds, has no resident surgeon.

liriellv. Hie New l'lynioulh hospital pays its medical ollk- is WM. Wan 'lu'iuii .CMIIU, and Napier .Cl.'ill, but ia the case id' the last mentioned two there is the additional cost of board and lodging, which no doul»t is a big item. According to this, it will lie -ecu that on a financial liasis, tlio co.-( of medical supervision of the local hospital tonipaves more than favoraliiy with the cost of that of the other instil ulions mentioned. lint even ilre (|iii'siioiP| of the cost, important as it is, should not he the paramount one in respect of the conduct of bos pilals. The most important, of arises, is our present system of hospital mauaiicnicnt (he most cllicicnl and docs it produce the best results';

Also, i.s not the Board practising false economy ill paying retainers to outside practitioners instead of maintain ing a resident olliccr? Our Auckland medical friend, who eai ( be accused of being deficient in candour, an-wei... and answers very emphatically, in ,lio negative. For ourselves ive. would lie blind to facts if we asserted that the ellieiency of the hospital has suffered or docs sutler bv the existence of the prceiu medical svslem. for. in point of fad. the hospital has a re cord and enjoys a reputation al: nil which it might well fed gratified. II has been singuiarlv fortunate in pos seeing medical ouiccr-, of hied! cpiaolicatiniav aiul in.Uoubtia! (skill, men, indeed, who would have made their mark in larger in.-lilutions ami laiyer spheres. ,\!,„, (|„. hospital has Ix'-ii fortunate in practically hnviicj; a; itliccU and call the whol,- „f the medical practitioners of lh,- 10w,,. Tleae can be no question a.s to confidence fen by thi' public in the institution. In Taranaki. particularly in South Taranaki, (he utmost faith is reposed in (he medical and nursing staff, so .much so ihat| theiv most'important eases are always sent to New PlyPlymouth,,

A pleasing feature of the local hospi:»ls is thai there has been an entire absence of the friction that characterises, unfortunately, so many of the colony's hospitals. \v,. ,|„ m ,l know why it is so, but hospitals oftentimes - ii,,. centres of reel iiiiiun- """ "'id disputation. At pre-ent we have I be case of the Cisborne hos pital. where the powers that be are " L «-as Ma-(eriu„, and bWore that Auek'mid. It is an un-e,,ulv .-,„ i5a1i,,.,,. lory stale of , iiiugs.' ; , „,| f„ ; . ah 5..,,,-.. "I iin.v such rift in (1„. operations of (be Xew Plyinoiitli ho-pital indieales thai Hie component parts of the. in stitul 1,111 have worked and are work mg as they should.

We h„ve 111,, chairman's a-5im,,,.,. teat there has never been an in.lance '"< "-Inch delay had uee,„|r,(l [ h ' '»" I'"" of Hi.' medical supci'in ('•intent being non-resident.. 'this is an unanswerable reply t„ |),- LdakcwclPs assertion thai (he hospital -""'"'•■■ i I')' "1 «'iice of a resident -m-geoii. I'.y the aid of that great nioih-rn enliven:,-nee. (he lel.'piione. the in.-dn-u. an- alwavs within call, and (hereby all risk ■„( delav is removed All (he same, the ti„„, must come when a resident surgeon will n<'C I |„ 1,, „ p l»iin(ed. The expense of ei-eclin- a re-idenee. however, is a bi- one. and While the plVsenl highlv sal isfactorv rosnlOs line obtained. wV, 'lliiink tl»e Hoard is well advised in earrviiev on (he present sctem. (lenerallv the people of Tarnuaki have ever'v

reason (o |'..,4 satislicl with the Xew I'lvnionlh llospiial. and with (he higldv trained and verv eapable stall', both medical and nursing, a stall' which, in truth, has earned for the inslitiilion distinction right throughout the Tsland.