COST OF THE SICK.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 February 1922, Page 4

COST OF THE SICK.

HO-7PITAL ADMINISTRATION. £lO,OOO LOSS YEARLY. JEROPOSAL TO RAISE FEES. “The expenses of maintaining the hospital are increasing instead of decreasing,” announced the chairman of the Taranaki Hospital Board (Mr. M. Fraser) at yesterday’s meeting. In support of this statement he gave an explanation of how this state of affairs had been brought about. The general fees were 9s 6d a bed per day, whereas an estimate, which was considered to be fairly near the mark, showed that the cost per bed was more like Ils. Thus, even if every patient paid 9s 6d per day there was still a loss on the actual cost of Is 6d, which worked out at a yearly loss of £2583 in any case. But if the board collected 50 per cent, of the fees they were indeed fortunate and a long way above the Dominion average of 20 per cent. Taking the percentage of fees collected as 50 per cent., the loss was estimated at £7318 per year. This, added to the daily loss of Is 6d per bed, made a total yearly loss of £9,900. Hospital boards, he knew, were charitable institutions, but it was essential that the business point of view should not lie lost sight of. This sum of £9900, together with about £lOOO for purely charitable aid, made a yearly loss of well over £lO,000. What means should be taken to reduce this? The speaker considered that even if the fees were raised to 11s 6d a bed this would not make much difference, though it possibly might. He was certainly of the opinion that the charges should be fixed before the board went into the friendly societies question. Perhaps the manager would be able to investigate the reasons for the extra cost of administraU ° n ’ TO REDUCE EXPENDITURE. Mr. Fraser instanced the month of January, when there were 62 operations, for which two medical men were permanently engaged, whilst others had to be called ;n for the administration of ‘anaesthetics. The accounts for this alone were never less than £2O per month. The board should not spend a penny that was not necessary, and he suggested that they might take an 'example from other boards and meet once in two months instead of monthly, which would effect a saving of about £5O a year. There was nothing amiss in passing a resolution to that effect, the board of course meeting monthly, when something arose that necessitated such a course. The finance committee had agreed to the scheme, and he would like other members to think it over.

The increased cost of goods and the general feeling of depression must be passed on to the ratepayers as lightly as possible. A maternity home was wanted, but the board could not attempt this till the clouds rolled by. Mr. Andrews said that if the proposal to reduce the number of board meetings would only save £5O a year, then it was not worth while, as the insight country members got into the work by meeting monthly more than compensated for the cost. “Raise the fees,” was Mr. O’Brien’s suggestion to effect a reduction in the cost of administration. Mr. Gilmour objected to the cry “raise the fees” being raised, as this was one of the reasons why only 50 per cent, of the fees were collected. They could only catch the man who could afford to pay. The chairman said that the fees at the New Plymouth Hospital were already the highest in the Dominion. Mr. Young enquired as to whether Ils was the actual cost of maintaining a bed, or was it the aggregate cost for those who paid and those who did not ? It was explained that the former was the case.' Messrs. Young and Capper disapproved of the proposal to reduce the number of board meetings. COUNTRY MEMBERS’ ATTITUDE. The opinion of Mr. Vickers was that most of the arguments adduced were besile the point. The loss, even on paying patients was Is 8d per day—the difference between Ils 2d and 9s 6d —and for this latter amount they received fare and treatment equal to anything received at an hotel for £1 a day, besides medical and nursing attendance. The public should be asked to pay the actual cost to the board, and the • speaker believed the same percentage of fees would be collected. The hospital was not run for profit, but Jt must be run on business lines, and the time must come when all details should be gone into and the tariff fixtd.

Mr. O’Brien considered there would be a rebellion in the country districts if the people there were unduly saddled as compared with townspeople. It was best to charge them alike the actual cost of maintenance, after effecting all possible economies, with remissions in certain deserving cases.

Mr. Halcombe, speaking as a country member, protested against the proposal to meet only once in two months. With the general manager the board had he was confident that not one sum of £5O but many such sums could be saved, and he thought the cost of maintenance could be reduced, especially in view of a prospective reduction in the cost of living. The matter of reducing the number of meetings was then dropped. The secretary (Mr. E. Holden) intimated that he would bring down a comprehensive report on the matter of administration costs, and the matter was therefore deferred.