THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, MARCH 4,1899.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Issue 41, 4 March 1899, Page 3

THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, MARCH 4,1899.

\i i-: ni.iku no .ipoloyy tin again refemng t'> the iiijs,itiir,ictury state ot uhans e^ist>'ig m connection with tho Wn,imate Hospital. The manner in which the institut'un is conducted. ;ind the tieatinent f.ccorcKl to paUents, lea\e little, if an\ , l oom toi mipuAcjnent. Tlie Co\pjmnent I'^poc-toi, Di AJaegregpr, has always IVC!1 !A ta\oiuaUc lepuit oi evpry depavtJuent,, h( , f. ir as tlle hUltt lg com . ernec ], it 1.0 m stnuigc thing indeed it of the hundu'd patients who ha\e been treated a^ the Hospital theie wej.o apt some who

have iound fault, yet we ventiue the opinion thai e\en in tins respect no similar institution in the colony has a cleaner reconl. The Wamiate people aie justly pioud of then Hospital. Many who h.ive »one into it for treatment, and piejudiced against hospitals in general, have come out glad theie is such an institution m our midst, and speak highly of the kindness rectnod ironi the ataff, especialh fiom tlie m ition. It is. theie. foie. all the uioic to be legrettod that such an unnrtigated faiee should have been made of the recent lnquuv. Kvcept in legard to ole matter, theie was no need for an enqnuv at all. As m the other matters, the Medic al Superintendent kad done ill that was requited, and it was only necessaiy foi the Hospital ]}o.ud to pass a resolution supporting his action, However, the (onjmittee hauog bedii appointed, conun >n decency should h.ivo kepi tho in ijoiit\ tioui m ikiujj a pirid i of their bias. l'\n insl.i.ice, the doctor reported lhat a nin-^e .'censed the ination ot speaking U, 1, ■ ' >( -i-.ive njanner in one of the w<iid>, that tins was confirm jd by twj (if tht> pitients. and that t}je niatrom apilo«i-'e(l foi it to the nurse. He added that he had givou the matron a beuous warning tor the same offence some months ago. The committee say, m reference to this matter, " We find that the cljarge faHs to the ground. '• That is to say that the doctor either stated whit was co itrary to fact, or only imagined the foregoing, or that the nurse who laid the complaint and the patients who confirmed it and the matron wh 0 apologised were qntruthfu}. A curious mix-up truly ! ! If further evidence is wanted of the partisan spnit in which the majority of the committee acted, it will be found \n the fearful and wonderful hash they served up as " recommendations." Thii> unbiassed committee recommend that the nursos reeene a reprimand for their conduct, and that if in the future the same course of conduct be taken by them, they be immediately dismissedr The only complaint against the nurses was oup by the inatroii that they were too niendlj with the- patients, and that the doctor had already dealt with. It is, hpwtner, an open secret that the recommendation was probably in reference to something else the committee had been poking into, and which has never come before the J-Jouid. Accoiduig to this i-c-coininen([ation, if <1> complaint is jjjado against th" nurses b\ someone about hoinetlnug the committee call " the s.ame couise of conduct." oh" they go without a rhance of defending themselves, The other recommendation* vieie m reference to matters winch the r \ wete not asked to Inqune 1 nqune into. In tact tlu\> arc a ridiculous

attempt to make f slur\ ot li ivm<» done M)ii!ot]nti<r. One item deahn^ with th° doctors dnl\ wa 1 - m> une-illed toi that the Ho/ml oidered it to \v deleted tiom tli .ep>it. Tii the (1 scission on flu I'ljpott sonic extraoiduini \ opinions %s c l , e\">jesapd. (hie menibei smd .—. — •'T]io Waimate JTo^pitil had be< j n inn well toi a nuinbei ot 'venrs. and he thoM!>hfc tlic less publicity £i\e» to nn d!t pi h\e tin-. th< j bett"V. It vus not it, r ht tliat the public should know ainthrisj nb nit it " H i^-li nfcfcdi i't l^ nl->cn 1-> c £fi )uud for th" suspicion that fot pusona' i >'is'>ms certvi'i nunncis of this Hospital B'l.ird ;u» nioi'i 1 than anxious that ho-.pit il ni'itteis should not be too closeh )ii\estii!ti i -"d. r rhf Tiustee^ urn rt"-t f'ssuied that the\ hivi^not Ivard the lnst of the mittei. and will A'et ro»ret that the\ hue ihklp so much unsterv and af'led in siHi a hole and comei fashion. I'ndtjr the en cuuhl, rices it would be \,iin to e\nect th'> \\oi\- of the Hospital to »o oi smoothly, and it the precious rcconi111'lid itio'is o( the tonnuittee ,ne act u d up )U the institution nn"\ be left without a single nnse. The evident ,i,ni.ietv of the in\]ontN oi the Tmstees to liush the a f.m up is doui'i incalculable haiui bv c.risinj» the public to suspect that things me woi -e Jinn the\ are, this bern» the natural conse([ui- > nc( ot th u J^oard dechnin" to do its dut,\ without feai or ta\ o\n .