MONDAY, FEBRUARY ], 1909. COTTAGE HOSPITALS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 13877, 1 February 1909, Page 4

MONDAY, FEBRUARY ], 1909. COTTAGE HOSPITALS.

The new Minister for Honds and Bridges, the Hon. A. W. Hogg 1 , is said to have a special regard for those pioneers of settlement who take lip land in the hack blocks of tlie bush and make homes there for themselves and their families. jlfj lf his sympathy is of the kind that finds practical expression there is a ' way of serving- these settlers in a way whicli will be very greatly appreciated. We refer to the establishment of cottage hospitals iv convenient centres. The other day our Whangainomona correspondent pointed to the need for such an institution in that" neighbourhood. A.fe\y, years ago a deputation of Whanganioniouft settlers waited upon the Hon. C. H Mills, who was at the time a Minister of the j Crown, and asked for assistance for a cottage Hospital, and sympathetic consideration was. promised to a proposal that a small subsidy should be given to a settler who. was prepared to find accommodaftoxi and whose wife was a qualified nurse. Toothing, however, .resulted, and the nee.d for a hospital "and nursing home has increased. It is not to be expected ihat a doctor will settle just yet in Whangamoniona, or in jMokau; in factJiis tilne would be largely wasted. But a very useful purpose would be served by small cottage hospitals in the two places named or other convenient centres. People who have never lived far fr^om a town and a doctor can scarcely realise the anxiety which is occasionally caused to settlers in the back blocks when serious accident or illness occur. Our Wh.angamoin.ona correspondent related how a sick child was taken by its father and mother to Stratford, a four hours' journey, for medical advice. This is but one ease of many which occur in the back blocks, which might be safely treated by a trained nurse, acting under instructions telephoned by a doctor. Then look at the. great expense many settlers are put to in connection with additions' to the family. Sometimes an experienced neighbour is able to do the necessary nursing, provided there arc no complications.-. ' Often, however, a settler has. to send his wife to town at, to him-, very great expense, or -otherwise run a great risk of losing her altogether. A nursing home at such - places as Whanganioniona .and Mokau would prove a very great boon and blessing in such cases, and would remove, or at least greatly mitigate, one of the most serious disabilities under which the pioneers of settlement labour. The ex-, pense need not be very great to establish and maintain such a cottage hospital" as we hare in mind,, but, it would be necessary for the Government to "assist by means of ; special ''grants. At the beginning only a; small establishment should Be attempted, one which a qualified nurse could

manage with the assistance of a strong* girl. Confinement cases might be made the stand-by, and the fees from these would go a long way towards meeting tho whole cost oi upkeep, and a room should always be available l<* receive cases of accident for first ;iid until a doctor had been consulted and decided whether it was necessary to send it to the nearest fully equipped hospital. . Telephone communication with a doctor .would of course be" d first essential, but the details might be .worked oul by the InspectorGeneral of Hospitals, who is in lull sjroipathy with the settlers in the. back blocks and understands how valuable a cottage hospital within easy reach would be to