HOSPITAL MATTERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 August 1916, Page 4

HOSPITAL MATTERS.

To tile Editor. S' r > —Anyone reading that part of yotflf report of the Hospital Board's proceed* ings, headed "Who is to Rule?" might* well lie pardoned for coming to thq conclusion that the matron, in her letter then under review, had east some grave reflection upon the 'conduct of the chairman of the Board. Mr. Bellringer, it is said, resented the tone of the letter, and it seems that lie was so overcome by something which the letter did not contain that he adopted the posa of the chivalrous but superannuated! Man—the man who had outlived his usefulness. Strange as it «ay appear, tha members of the Board at oiioe fell iq tfith his ludicrous view, and evidently forgot all about Miss Browne's letter. At any rate, there was much irrelevant talk, and not a little humbug, about) the dignity of the Board and confidence in the chairman, whilst the matron's mild and proper requent parsed quite unnoticed. Now, what did this awful letter actually say ? Certainly it' is couched in courteous language, and 'equally certainly it contains no reflection upon the chairman or any member ofi the Board. But it does contain a request that the chairman should do het! <he justice of correcting a wrong fan*, pression created by the chairman him«self at a previous meeting. In the report of that meeting the following state* ment is said to have been made by the. ehairman: "On my frequent visits to the hospital I have always asked how things were going, and received the reply that there were no complaints." Misa Browne, on the otlier hand, says in her letter that she has frequently drawn attention to the fact that the nurses' j quarters were too small and in other ways unsuitable, How does the Board j tieal with these diametrically opposed I statements? The chairman does not and dare not say that he was not told (about the inadequate accommodation. He evaded the issue, and rather astutely took upon himself the role of the injured party. It is no answer to say that "he had always shown the matron | and staff the utmost courtesy," or that "lie had been actuated by a desire to do good and useful work," or that "the Board has every confidence in the chairman.'' The question still remains, Did lie speak the strict truth when he made (lie statement attributed to him in the newspaper report? Every member of the public knows the true genuine worth of Mv. Bollrmsrer, and will readily concede a great deal more than he claims for liinself; but there will be.very general regret that he did himself the wrong of Ignoring the matron's perfectly proper request. \*o red herring need have been drawn Across the path; no melodramatic poses need have been adopted. The occasion would have been quite well met if lie had made a simple apology for words which were spoken probably without much consideration, hut which wrongfully shifted blame on to the matron. Why all the talk about the dignity of the Board? Is it dignified to bo unjust to a ladv who has been for many years a most faithful servant, and then refuse to remedy the injustice? Is there any loss of dignity in dealing fairly b* liei ? It is not vet too late for the matter to be set light, and I hope that the I'liairman will take an early opportunity of stating" publicly that he was frequently told bv the matron and th<; medical •ita ir of tiie disgraceful state of the accommodation provided for nurses, and i.-onseque!itlv tliflt he knew -ill about it when he made the statement vsported in the toss.—l am, etc., 1 TAT r ENT.

To the Editor. Sir,—l am an English nurse visitin* New Zealand, and being a member of the Society of Chartered Nurses of Lonron, I cannot help saying a word'in defence of one who in the performance of her duty to those under her care and the general public, has fallen into the hands of the Philistines, and is at the mere/ of a set of small-minded individuals,'vlio have the power in their puny hands of behaving to her in an altogether unmanly way, and whose Peeksniffi&n self-complaeency is quite sickening to an .nilnoker.

Mr. Chairman, I gather from his remarks must be a very old man with n v.ry limited experience of the world and its ways, and specially of the nursing profession, in which, of course, tlw strictest discipline must always be maintained, and when a matron is instructing and ruling a body of women, as tils matron of the New Plymouth hospital is doing, she needs the support of the Board, instead of which, they appear to i,e bickering ar.d fighting like a nest of cockerels! I conclude by saying that I have myself l ad similar experiences, tut am thankful to say that I have always had men worthy of the name to support me. By the way, who is this great man to whom the other members of the Board seem to bow too? I should like to know. My deepest sympathies are with Miss Browne. lam < U 'k. FARMER, M.S.C.N., M.R.B.N.A, August 17, 1018.