MASTERTON HOSPITAL

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 8 November 1912, Page 5

MASTERTON HOSPITAL

AND THE CHARITABLE AID BOARD. Some comment has been* made in the town over the resignation of certain members of the Masterton Hospital Committee. It has been sought to show ..that these resignations wcr© due to the Chairman of the Wairarapa Hospital and Charitable Board having superseded the Committc© in respect to the suspension of a certain nurse. A representative of the Age waited upon the Chairman of the Board ; (Mr E. G. Eton) last night, and ob- ! tained the following statement: . THE NURSING STAFF. It is true that a sister on tho staff of the Masterton Hospital absented herself without leave. Thomatter came before the Hospital Committee, arid the sister was asked for an explanation. This explanation was given, and was accepted as satisfactory. It, transpired', however, .that there were other complaints against tho sister in question, and, as j the Matron was the solo arbiter in ■ these matters, she exercised the right given her under the regulations and , suspended the sister, until such time as the matter should be otherwise dealt with. In the meantime, a special meeting of a representative* ( .committee of the Wairarapa Hospital and Charitable Aid Board was held :'to consult with the Inspector-General in; regard to the general administration of the Board. At this meeting it transpired that under the Board's | regulations it was the duty of ' the j Board to deal with a complaint lodged, | and it accordingly dealt with th© I action taken by the Matron , under , By-law 129. After full inquiry it j was decided that it was in the besi ; interests of the institution that tho sister against whom complaints had been made should be asked to retire Accordingly she was given an opporj tunity of resigning, and it is understood she intends availing herself of this course. THE COMMITTEE. So far as the Hospital Sub-commit-tee is concerned, the Board had no desire to usurp any of the functions of that body. The Board' had to deal with a report that had been brought before it, and dealt with that report; in the presence of the Inspector-Gen-eral. The Chairman of the Masterton Committee (Mr j. B. Keith) was advised that a sister had been, suspended, and on 30th October the secretary of the Board l received an official communication, that Messrs Keith, Murray Jackson, H. J. O'Leary, J. C. Ewington, D. J. Cameron and Jas. Miller had resigned from the sub-com-mittee. The reasons given were> •that the. action of the. Board render-, ed it impossible for them to act on the committee. It was stated that the system of appointing committees consisting " partly of non-members could only prove successful if tho Board itself and the individual mem* bers of the Board sitting on ths Recognised that the adj ministrative powers w !"C!! ?Ssinu!? I ie£ niust be exercised without interference by tm».Board. I WHAT THE* LAW &aI2; The functions of the sub-cflminttloe'jr are clearly limited under the Act. Under clause 64, sub-section 4, it is stated that "all the acts and proceedings of the committee shall l-e reported to the Board and shall nof, except so far as the Board by reguotherwise provides, have any operation or effect until approved afc a meeting of the Board." Sub-sec-tion 5 says that "the proceedings: and powers of every committee shall ho governed and determined by regulations made, from time to time by tho Board." By-law 129 of the regulations of the Wairarapa Board reads: —"She (meaning the Matron) shall have power to suspend any nurse, reporting the same to the medical officer, who. shall in turn report the matter to the Board." In the ca.se of the nurse in question, the matter was reported to the Board and dealt with in accordance with the regulations.