THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2l, 1907. MASTERTON HOSPITAL MEDICAL STAFF.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8540, 21 September 1907, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1907. MASTERTON HOSPITAL MEDICAL STAFF.

A question of some considerable importance came up for discussion at the last meeting of the Trustees of the Masterton Hospital, when the application of Drs. Cook and Cowie to be placed upon the active medical staff of the Hospital wj>s received. The question is really one of more importance than, perhaps, appears at first sight. The applicants mentioned are at present members of the honorary staff, which means that they have, practically, no rights at all in respect to the Hospital, and this position is not only objectionable from their point of view, but it is obvious that occasions must arise when it is very objectionable from the point of view of various individuals of the general public. The Masterton Hospital is a public institution, and as such, its benefits and conveniences should be within the reach of every individual number of the public, and all who wish to enter the institution should do so under conditions of an equaVcharacter. At present the Masterton Hospital is somewhat of a close corporation, so far as Drs. Cook and Cowie are concerned, and so far as any patients of those doctors who might wish to go to *he Hospital and te treated there by their elected medical attendant. It does not appear that there is the slightest objection to the application being granted, and it is difficult to understand why the Trustees should have decided to defer consideration of the matter for a month. The suggestion that it would be difficult to inaugurate a workable scheme for a medical staff of four doctors does not seem to be worth considering. An active medical staff consisting of four doctors should be able to arrange matters conveniently anong themselves. The position is s'mply this— if the doctors are pre-

pared to work amicably together they

can do so, and if friction is likely to arise, the public who are interested in the Hospital should be clearly informed as to what is likely to create friction where none should exist. Medical practitioners, with the experience that the local doctors have had, would not be, we f?el sure, placed in any difficulty, but rather the position would be the reverse, so far as arranging a workable scheme. It may possibly be asked, is there going to be no limit to the number of the active medical staff connected with the Hospit?l, and, we venture to say, byj way of answer, that it would be premature to appoint a residenct bouse doctor at the present time, and, therefore, until the number of doctors who are practising in somewhat greater than the present number, that all local doctors, in the interests of the community generally, and as a mattar of fairness and recognition of their standing in the community, should be appointed by the Trustees to the active medi'.al staff of the Hospital. by the statements made to the Trustees by Dr. Archer Hosking, the present medical staff are rea'ly not opposed to the application of Drs. Cook and Cowie being granted; but the question is one for the Trustees to settle, and it ' seems to us that they should have no coming to an obviously right conclusion, namely, tc 1 grant the application. We shall, perhaps, make the position a little

I clearer if we illustrate how injustice to members of the public may arise under the present system. We will assume that a certain person is being attended to by either of the ajplicants in question, and that the medical adviser recognises that the particular case is essentially one for the Hospital. If the perscn is sent to the Hospital, as he should be, he immediately passes out of the hands of J the doctor by whom he prefers to be treated. With this prospect in view, it is not at all unlikely to suppose, and in fact, we do know where cases have happened, that sick people who ought to go to the Hospital, refuse to go there because, if they do, they will not be treated by the doctor at whose hands they prefer to receive treatment. To put the case in a nutshell, the position is this—that patients of the present active medical staff who may go

to the Hospital are attended to by "their own" doctor, whereas any patients of L'rs. Cook and Cowie who may go to the Hospital are not attended to by "their own" doctor. What the Trustees have to consider is this —why should any two doctors in the community constitute the active medical staff of the Hospital, and derive the advantages and privileges which accrue therefrom, when thy total number of doctors in the town is only four. Moreover, it is possibly as well to ask, if.it is proved that it is inadvisable to increase the number of the medical staff beyond two, why that staff of two should be of a permanent character. In the past there has been a sertain amount of friction in connection with Hospital matters in Masterton, and we should very much *egret to see anything except peace ind harmony reigning in' future, md, so far as we kr.ow, Ihe Trustees >y granting the application of Drs. jook and Cowie would alter the >resent unsatisfactory condition of iffairs to the satisfaction of everyone oncerned.