The Daily News. SATURDAY, AUGUST 22. HOSPITAL AND DOCTORS' FEES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 207, 22 August 1908, Page 2

The Daily News. SATURDAY, AUGUST 22. HOSPITAL AND DOCTORS' FEES.

Wo need otter no apology lor again j letuiuing to tliu abure subject, which I ill t.lic iJixwut moment is receiving a | good deal oi' public aXtcntion. iiiore are lUo w wilo disagree Willi tile resolution allirnied by tile recent Uonlerciice Liiat every iut'inlter of the co'iiunmity is entitled to claim ailiiiHiie.i to a Hospital as a matter of right and iiut 01 pnvilug.. or tiiiariiy. We regret to note that our evening contemporary is one of those who would point ilie finger 01 liproadi at those who avail themselves of the public institution W.IICII they could be treated in their homes or in a private hospital. lilt own arguments, however, falsify liis deductions. Very correctly lie states that tile dillerenec between tne actual cost of maintaining the 'hospital and tile aeiual payments made by patients , is made up by the general taxpayer.. | through the State subsidy, and tile loi fit 1 taxpayer, through the local rate. i s We Men proceeds to state that the right of every nieinber of the community to claim admission would be undoubted 11 the lees charged covered the actual cost. And later: •'Whether we cull it •charily' or anything eke, those wno HOW pay 'those fees are receiving Something at the expense of the community."

We admit at once that the local Board has not beea charging a tee siilhcienl to ' cover .the actual cost of patients' maintenance, but that was no fault of tiio patients. The fees, it is now proposed, should be raisea to (is per <tnv, which will cover the actual cost. How, then, can any patient who pays tinfull hospital charges, and wiho has further contributed through taxation ids quota for the upkeep of those less fortunately situated and unable to pay the hospital fees, be deemed a recipient of (jharityr l J ublic opinion is emphatically opposed to the upprobriuiu of charity attaching to an institution which is maintained by the public for its own use, whatever might have been tilie intention of the Legislature which made possible the present | system of public hospitals. The intentions of the legislators have changed much in recent years, however, and nothing that State socialism might accomplish could .be more humane, more truly socialistic, or more in accord with the spirit of 6ur times than the alleviation of sulfcring and the curing ol sickness at the lowest possible cost to the sufferers. Whatever, theretorc, earlier legislators might have contemplated for the scope of public hospitals, presrat-day opinion and established custom affirms that public hospitals are for public use.

We are no more desirous of seeing the Hospitals tilled by the wealthy than are the doctors, nor do we consider there is any likelihood of such a, possibility. There have, no doubt, been cases of so-called abuse of public institutions by wealthy people, but these cases are rare. We are not concerned at present with the well-to-do, or wiui the poor types of patients. To the latter .the hospital's doors are, happily, ever open. .Our concern is the great middle class, wdiich for reasons of prui dent economy prefer Seeking treatment, at a reasonable fee, in the public hospital, to running into debt to pay doctors' bills, or, as our contemporary calls them, "reasonable charges." Wo havu no hesitation in saying that doctors' charges, so far as the average working man is concerned, are not, as a rule, reasonable. Seven and sixpence, tliu! charge lor an ordinary visit, to many a working man means a day's wages; while the charge for an operation and attendance— £io, £3O, £4O. or more—is such that Jew wago-cani-ers, whatever their calling, are fortunate enough to view with equanimity

Tils profession of medicine and surgery is a noble one, but modern practice makes humanity pay dearly for Itae "nobility.' In short, the average mail shrinks from incurring a heavy bill, which he can ill all'ord, for medical attendance, when he may secure the same skilled attention, and possibly uup'erior nursing, in Wie public institution at a charge-within bis means The doctors have the remedy in their own hands, and we feel certain that a reduction of their fees would do more to conserve their practices 'Dhnn any increase i-ii hospital charges or discrimination regarding admissions. lii respect to the profession generally, a species of monopoly lias gradually grown uj) that needs but to apply the screw a little .tighter to raise a public outcry that can have but one ending—the establishment of a State medical department, whose medical officers shall be at the service of the public at reasonable fees. Medical men's fees are. we are convinced, as mucfli the reason for the increasing claims for the accommodation of popular hospitals, with their alleged abuse to t'he doctors' loss, as any Other consideration, and the fact cannot be gainsaid—'not to the satisfaction of the public which foots the bill, at any rate.