13

H.—l9b.

Page 43. 94. Fly staff should receive extra-duty pay in common -with sanitary -men. This matter will be considered by the Board of Inquiry now sitting at Headquarters in regard to pay and allowances of the New Zealand Military Forces. Page 43. 94a. Sanitary squads should be under the Camp Principal Medical Officer, and not under the Camp Quartermaster. 1. The purely technical sanitary squads, such as fly sanitary staff, disinfectors, &c, arc directly under tho Camp Principal Medical Officer and belong to the New Zealand Medical Corps. 2. The sanitary squads employed by the Camp Quartermaster are performing nontechnical duties, such as working destructors, burial of nightsoil, road-scavengers, &c. Their work is best controlled by the Camp Quartermaster. The inspection of the work is, however, carried out by a specialist Sanitary Officer who is on the staff of the Camp Principal Medical Officer. 3. The excellent health record of the New Zealand camps, which compares so favourably with that of any other camp in the world, is evidence that the existing sanitary system works efficiently. A change is not considered necessary. Page 44. 95. //; is going to pay the camps to run their own canteens and cut, canteen profits. Featherston and A.wapuni Camp canteens are already being run by the Defence Department. When the present contract for the Trentham Camp canteen expires the Defence Department will take over that canteen also. Page 51. 96. Regulations governing hospital stores too voluminous and, vexatious for temporary and casual men to administer. The regulations for hospital dieting are easy and simple to grasp if the instructions are carried out. Hospital equipment is dealt with by the Ordnance Department. Page 51. 97. Value of some hospital returns more seeming than, real—e.g., separate, returns for food, consumed by staff and by patients. This refers to an occasion when, owing to the lack of accommodation at Hanmer, the hospital staff, and patients pooled their rations and dined together, which is contrary to regulations. This, when attention was drawn to it, was remedied, the staff there, as elsewhere, dining by themselves. Page 52. 98. Stricter discipline should be enforced at, Roiorua, even if the hotels must be placed out of bounds. Close attention has been and will be given to this matter. Page 52. 99. Provide light, duties out of doors for convalescent, patients. Rules have been drawn up for this purpose. Page 52. 100. When convalescents leave military hospitals care should be taken to establish close, touch bet-ween them and, the Health Department. Since (lie onus of looking after discharged soldiers has fallen on the Defence Department instructions have been issued to secure medical attention for convalescent soldiers on their discharge through the Superintendents of Hospitals and Assistant Directors of Medical Services of districts. Page 53. 101. Reduce lay. members of Medical Boards from five to three. • ' Vide 129. Page 04, Page 53. , 102. Medical re-examination should be, made by a full Board, of three officers. This is a subject which has given the Defence Department a great deal of consideration and anxiety. The head of the Medical Services is responsible that unfit men do not go into camp or do not leave New Zealand, and that fit men are not incorrectly passed as unfit, and so practically exempted from their obligations. In the past control has been kept by the head of the Medical Services himself reviewing such cases as were put before him and ordering re-examinations, and in some obvious cases reclassifying. This placed a great deal of routine work upon the head of the Medical Services, General Henderson, and solutions of the problem were sought in.'vain under the circumstances then existing. Recently a complete reorganization has been made in the medical side of the Headquarters of districts, and it has been found possible to throw upon the Senior Medical Officer of each district (the Assistant Director of Medical Services), the responsibility for re-examinations in all cases. Re-examinations will in future initiate with the Group Commander. The District Assistant Director of Medical Services will be the judge as to whether the re-examination will take place or not; the person to bo examined will be called up for re-examination through the Director of Recruiting; in ordinary cases the re-examination will be made