H.—l9

14

NAPIER. This hospital occupies a site which could not be excelled. It is near the town, situated on a hill, with a noble prospect all round. Its water-supply, drainage, and all other important requirements are amply provided for, and the building is worthy of its site. The wards and their accessories are grouped round a neat courtyard with flower-plots in its centre. The surgical ward opens on the left and the medical ward to the right of this court. Opposite the main entrance, opening off the far side of the court, is a fine corridor 99ft. by 9ft., having on its right a fine large well-furnished convalescent room for male patients, a very comfortable female private ward containing two beds, and a well-furnished and well-lighted operating-room. On the left side of the central corridor are situated a fine large well-furnished kitchen, with scullery, stores, pantry, and servants' dining- and sitting-rooms and a bath-room for the household. At the far end of the corridor is situated the new fever ward, while the large female ward opens on the right and the children's ward on the left. All the large wards are similarly furnished, and have similar accessory rooms. For instance, the surgical ward—4Bft. by 29ft. 4in. by 16ft.—is well lighted, well ventilated, and very comfortably furnished. It contains fifteen very comfortable iron beds, with straw palliasses and hair inattrasses. Alongside of each bed is a neat kauri locker, with a box above and a drawer below. At the head of each bed are cards showing the diet and treatment. Neatly-framed pictures adorn the walls. There are two ward-tables set off with flowers, and suitable chairs—one of them a very comfortable bath-chair on wheels. There are very neat screens to secure privacy when desirable, and there is a wide layer of linoleum all along the centre of the ward. At the far end of the ward, in well-ven-tilated projections, are situated well-planned and well-kept closets, lavatory and bath-room. Like the other wards, this has opening off the passage leading to it a very comfortable private ward and a nurse's room, as well as a ward-kitchen, with small range, a sink, and a convenient press. One of the chief features of this hospital is a comfortable Children's Ward, 27ft. by 15ft. It contains four beds and two cribs. At present there are three patients, who evidently feel quite at home. The floor is all laid with wax-cloth. Neat pictures, a toy-press, and shelves well filled with children's books, and a clock, gives the whole a very home-like look. The bath-room, lavatory, and closet belonging to the ward are admirable. The fever hospital, situated at the far end of the main corridor, and completely isolated from the rest of the hospital, contains two wards and their accessory rooms. The female ward, which is similar to the male ward, is 23ft. by 18ft., with two sash-windows on each side and a large square window at the end. The ventilation of the ward is provided for by Sherringham's ventilators in the walls and openings in the ceiling. There is a magnificent view from the windows. A double gas pendant hangs in the middle of the ward. The furniture consists of neat white-pine lockers and linen-press. The beds are furnished with straw and flax mattrasses and feather pillows. The walls are faced with Keen's cement. The bath-room, lavatory, and earth-closet, with special ventilating-pipe, are kept with very great care. There is a suitable kitchen and well-furnished nurses' room. The total cost of the building was £1,100, and the furniture cost £130. There were no patients in the fever hospital. During my visit there were twenty-eight patients—twenty-two males and six females. I conversed with them all without any member of the staff being present, and without exception they spoke in the highest terms of the attention of the doctor and the care and kindnes of the nurses. The remarkable economy of the steward's management led me to make special inquiries as to whether the patients were pinched in any way, and Dr. Menzies assured me that they were not. I found only one patient who had been over six months in the hospital, one who had been more than three months, and two who had been more than two months. The outpatients average about seven daily. They get medicine free, but a charge is made for the bottles to all who can afford it. Four cases were brought under my notice in which persons took advantage of the hospital charity who could afford to pay a doctor outside. The hospital-books are kept with very great care. The register, case-book, and prescription-books kept by the doctor I found in a very satisfactory state. There is a daily issue of rations according to the diet-scale ; and this, along with a daily abstract of entries, is entered in the general diet-sheet for the monthly meetings of the Committee. The nursing-staff and its organization struck me as being admirable, though the number of nurses is large for the number of patients, owing to the size of the building, and the administration of the steward is energetic and economical in the highest degree, though I cannot rid myself of the feeling that it errs a little on the side of military rigidity. The dispensary is well furnished and-well managed, though the drug-bill is very heavy considering how the stock was replenished just before the hospital was taken over from the Government. The amount of the bill for October was £15 12s. lid. The cost of medical comforts is very small. The outbuildings attached to the hospital are all suitable and well looked after. The fire-apparatus I found in good order; but the pressure was only sufficient to reach the eaves of the building. 11th November, 1886.

OAM ABU. This hospital stands in a commanding position, overlooking the town and the harbour, in a reserve of about seven acres, well fenced and planted. The building is of the beautiful local stone, with an iron roof. It consists of a central parti, with a verandah in front, and two wings. The central block contains a waiting-room, in which there is a large press full of rubbish ; a suitable dispensary, which is used as an operating-room, in which there is a fair stock of surgical instruments ; while the sittingroom and bed-room of the steward and his wife occupy the right side of the entrance-hall. The right wing contains two small wards in front and a larger ward behind, while the left wing contains also three small wards. This breaking-up of the available space into so many small wards is the great fault of the hospital. It greatly increases the labour of the steward and his wife, and gives the steward more to do than he could rightly manage even if he were young and active, which he is not. These wards are all plainly and suitably furnished, but are not kept very tidy from the cause I have