The Daily News. SATURDAY, MAY 10, 1913. HOSPITAL METHODS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 299, 10 May 1913, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, MAY 10, 1913. HOSPITAL METHODS.

The case of the maii Barry, a fireman, on the steamer Maori, is causing some pertinent discussion in Christchurch. It appears, from the details that are available, that Barry is in an advanoed stage of consumption, ,and that when the Maori arrived at Lyttelton he was sent ashore to be examined by the medical officer. That practitioner at once ordered him to the Christchurch Hospital, but on arrival there he was' refused admission because he came from Wellington, the medical-superintendent informing him that each district, under the rules, had to treat its own cases. Under these circumstances the unfortunate invalid returned to Lyttelton, and being without means had to wander abont the wharves all night, having failed to catch the Wellington ferry boat.' The doctor who examined him stated that if Barry travelled by the steamer he would ebnstitute a grave menace to the other passengers. But despite the statement, the man was not only refused admission to the Christchurch Hospital, but was ultimately shipped to Wellington, under certain precautions, which may or may not have been effective. We Ihave every sympathy with this unfortui nate man, but his case involves a principle that is far more important than his , mere personal martyrdom. There is far too much red tape in connection with the administration of our hospitals; which are paid for by the people. It is ridiculous to assume that if a resident •of Whangarei breaks his leg at the Bluff he must be sent to liis own district without being attended to. We have in mind i the case of a backblocks settler in the King Country of quite recent date. His > wife, suffering from an internal complaint, being informed that an operation was necessary, made application for admission to a central hospital, but was refused on the ground that she was not resident in that district. She sought admission to a neighboring hospital, and was again turned down for similar reasons, and was told that she would have to go to Hamilton, many miles from her residence, although the hospitals to which she applied were comparatively near. It was a question of districts, and the unfortunate woman could have been easily treated comparatively near to home, and at considerably Jess expense, had it not been for the red-tapeism which demands: "If you are ill, be ill in your own district." Surely there should be some arrangement by which a sufferer in want of immediate attention could be attended to at the nearest possible haven of refuge, with, if necessary, provision for that establishment to make a charge upon the local body in whose district the sufferer is located. It is inconceivable to think that a man in an ■ advanced stage of consumption should have to wander homeless about the wharves for a whole night, after having been

[committed to a hospital, and it is almost equally inconceivable that, simply because of local boundaries, a woman condemned to a serious operation should have to travel past several neighboring Hospitals in a dreary journey for relief to her own district. There is something radically wrong in such a system, and it ought not to be difficult for the Government to devise some means of interchange which would, in the future, obviate a recurrence of such painful cases. Our hospital and charitable institutions should not regard money as their main object, where suffering has to be alleviated, and whilst it is necessary to exercise some supervision over applicants for relief we are quite sure that the ratepayers would not object to any institution playing the part of Good Samaritan in cases of urgency.