CASUALTY REPORTS.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 November 1916, Page 2

CASUALTY REPORTS.

NOT AS COMPLETE AS DESIRED. (From Ou" O'wn Correspondent). Wellington, Saturday. *'The casualty report? that are received in New Zealand are not as full and definite as we would wish them to be," .said the Minister for Defence (Hon. J. Allen), in reply to complaints that have been made. "Tho fault is net at this end. We are giving the people of New Zealand every bit of information that is received, and we are communicating with the responsible authorities in London with the object of securing improvements in the system. We are doing our best to secure a reliable classification of the wounded, so that the relatives here may know whether the wound is slight, serious or dangerous, and we would like to be able to tell the next-of-kin in each case what hospital the patient is occupying. "The difficulties admittedly are very great, especially when large numbers of wounded are being handled in a hurry. The men are drafted into hospitals as occasion arises and space p..'inits. The first consideration is to get them into the best possible surroundings as quickly as possible, and naturally the .medical officers have little time to spare for supplying information to inquiries. The records staff appears to be doing its best, but it is liable to get swamped wit/i messages of inquiry after the publication of long easu»lty 'lists in this country; But the whole subject is receiving attention, and I have been in communication with the New Zealand Base with the object of effecting improvements. The Defence Department would like to so arrange matters that the casualty lists would contain the information desired by relatives as to the nature of the injury and would be entirely reliable. Wo would like to be able to give progress reports, so that there would be no need for private inquiries, which are always liable to add to the troubles of an overworked staff. This private inquiries, I may say. sometimes assume very large proportions." v_ . The Minister added that he was convinced, from what he had seen and heard, that the staff of the Records Office in New Zealand was working efficiently and well.' If delays occurred and occasional mistakes had to be rectified, the fault did not lay with the officers in New Zealand, who were performing their part of the work promptly and thoroughly.