HOSPITAL BOARD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 304, 18 May 1911, Page 3

HOSPITAL BOARD.

MONTHLY MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Taranaki Hospital and Charitable Aid Board was held yesterday. Present: Messrs. F. C. .1. Bellringer (chairman), G. W. Browne. \V. Outfield, E. Maxwell, M. J. Mcßeynolds,, J. R. Hill, 3. Brown, (!. V. Tutc, C. O'Sullivan, and D. H. McDonald.

Dr. T. 11. A. Valintine, InspectorGeneral of Hospitals and Chief Health Officer, was also present.

The Paymaster-General notified that subsidies amounting to £4lO 15s 8d had been paid to the board's;, credit. The board was notified t%t the hospitals conference would be held in Wellington on June 27, instead.,;)/ dune 14, as previously decided. Tiiq, chairman and the secretary (Mr. C. M. Lepperj were appointed the board's Representatives at the conference.

The board agreed with- the proposals as to accommodation! of incurables made by the conference at Stratford yesterday (as reported in yesterday's News). The proposals' were referred to the board's solicitor, to be embodied in an agreement for signature by the three boards concerned. THE HOSPITAL."

Dr. Wylie, Acting-Superintendent ol the hospital, reported that during the month 23 patients had been admitted to the institution, 27 had been discharged, three had died, and there were 24 remaining. Eighteen' operations had been performed. The annexe for treatment of tubercular cases was re-opened to admit two eases from the Hawera district. The isolation block had also been re-opened for a case of measles. OLD PEOPLE'S HOME. Mrs. A. Bayly, matron of the Old People's Home, reported that two persons (a male and a female) had been admitted to the Home during the month, and two females had departed. There were now 2G males and 5 females in the institution.

Mr. A. D. Gray -wrote resigning 'appointment as-honorary dentist to the Old People's Home, as he was leaving the district. He had held the appointment S&s -22 years.-rjt .was decided l to place on record the hoard's appreciation of the valuahle services rendered hy Mr. Gray.' Mr. A. M. MacDiarmid, Mr. Gray's partner, was appointed 1 to the position-. TYPHOID SERUM. A circular letter was received from the Inspector-General recommending that nurses or other attendants whose* duties brought them into cqntaet with patients suffering from typhoid fever should be given means of protecting themselves from infection by means of the injection of typhoid serum. The department was prepared to issue the serum free of charge for the purpose. EXTERMINATION OF RATS. • The Chief, Health Officer forwarded a copy of a circular issaed to the mayors of all cities and boroughs in the Dominion. He added that the- department would.be glad if the board would . instruct its inspector to make special inquiries asto'the prevalence of rats in other parts of the hospital district, and generally ,to see, that the regulations relating to the destruction of rats were prosecuted'with vigor. The X'hief Health Officer's circular stated that regulations would shortly be issued empowering local authorities and the department fro. adopt more stringent methods with regard to the destruction of rats, and other measures considered necessary to prevent plague from spreading in' the Dominion. In addition to rat extermination, the department strongly urged the prompt removal and destruction of all refuse and garbage likely to encourage rats on any premises. To this end the department suggested a house to house inspection .and prompt prosecution of all persons who failed, to comply with the regulations and existing by-laws. The district health officers bad been instructed to give all possible assistance to -local authorities in this respect.

ADDRESS BY DR. VALINTINE. At the invitation of the chairman. Dr. Valintine dealt at some length with the correspondence which had heen received from the department regarding several. matters. He wished to make it quite clear that the nurses would not be compelled to have injections of the anti-typhoid serum, but they would have the opportunity of getting this additional protection against typhoid if they wished it. It was an unfortunate fact that more nurses had contracted typhoid from patients during the last few years than in previous years, although we fluttered ourselves that wc knew more about typhoid to-day than was known ten or twenty years a<*o. Hospitals in America and 'England had similar experiences. With regard to the hospitals, conference to be held in Wellington next month. Dr. Valintine said he hoped that no remits concerning legislation would be submitted to the conference, for the new legislation had not been given a fair trial yet. The. conference had reallv been brought about by the North Canterbury Board wishing a conference to be held to discuss administrative control of tuberculosis. Personally, the speaker would have preferred the holding of the conference a year or so later, when the boards could have seen more of the working of the present 'Act. One of the matters to come before the conference was that of remuneration of chairmen of hospital hoards. Prom what he hao seen of the working of hospital and charitable aid boards during the past five years. Dr. Valintine was strongly of opinion that the chairmen should receive substantial remuneration. He had notice the self-sacrifice of members of hospital boards in conducting their institutions, and had seen that it took the chairmen about a third of their day to attend to the hospital busi- , ness, in a large district. The chairmen f had great responsibilities. He was afraid that unless the ohairmon were encouraged, the services of a number of very valuable men who had given their services gratuitously to this verv important branch of social work would be lost. As regards plague and the destruction of rats, the hospital boards wore practically boards of health with supervisory powers, and although at present they had no statutory power of enforcing the regulations he hoped to have this brought about. But the boards could wield an important influence on local bodies with regard to the destruction of rats. It might seem rather extraordinary (added Dr. Valin-) tine, smilingly) for members of hospital boards to go rat hunting, but if the plague was to be kept out of the country the rats must be destroyed. If the local bodies would co-operate' in this matter they would not only safeguard the Dominion against plague, bn£ would also prevent great destruction of foodstuffs. In the Old Country, he had read lately, £10,000,000 yearly was wasted on foodstuffs through destruction by rats. LOCAL MATTERS. Coming to more local matters, Dr.

Yalintine referred to Tuesday's con', i ference, at Stratford, of delegates from | the three hospital boards in the proI v'mce, with regard to the provision of jan institution for incurables, etc. He ' considered the arrangements made were . most satisfactory. The three boards > would work in union on any matters other than the maintenance of their own particular hospitals. So far as Taranaki was concerned, this would do away with some of the objections there were to small hospital distriets. He was strongly of opinion that it woulcl be better, both for efficiency and for finance, if the Dominion had only twenty hospital districts instead of thirty-six, as at present. He did not mean that the number of hospitals should be limited to twenty, but that there should be twenty boards with a wider view of their iesponsihilities, and able to say exactly where there should be the base hospital for each district, and where the outlying cottage hospitals, etc., should be. He had been glad! to notice that at Tuesday's conference there had been an absolute absence of i any parochial spirit. The proposal I should have the hearty support of this board. The proposal that when the new hospital in New Plymouth was erected the present buildings should be used for incurables, etc., was a very excellent arrangement. In the meantime, he believed, the incurables could be accommodated at the Old People's Home. The matron was a trained nurse, and the board could perhaps arrange for her to have the assistance of a trained nurse from the hospital if required.