H.—3l

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the war, been found impossible to make an appointment of medical officer, and the Matron, Miss Stubbs, has had. to carry on, calling in a doctor for abnormal cases. So far there has not been a frequent need. The St. Helens Hospital, Christehureh, has been much overtaxed for accommodation several times during the year. It has now been decided to build hospital wards on the present site, and additional land has been acquired for that purpose. The present building will then form the Nurses' Home. The same additions and alterations projected at Auckland are still not carried out, owing to lack of funds on account of war necessities. At Dunedin also the needed additions are still in the future. A cottage has been rented near this hospital for t_he purpose of an clinic, and has been fairly well attended. Generally speaking, this ante-natal work, established 1916- 17, has undoubtedly resulted in the saving of maternal and infantile life, although probably the advice and treatment offered has not been taken advantage of as much as was hoped, yet week by week women do come, who really need advice. The addition of a staff of nurses to each hospital to visit the patients booked, to come in and those who have been discharged has also been useful, and as it develops will do much good. Hospital Board Maternity Hospitals. The, Batchelor Maternity Hospital, Dunedin : 172 cases were, confined during the year ; of these 156 were married women and sixteen single women. There was one maternal death, and two deaths of infants. Six nurses were trained during the year, and five are now in training. The. Linwood Refuge, Christehureh: The Board is now altering the scope of this hospital, and under the name of the " Essex Home, " married women are to be admitted as well as single girls. The Mac Hardy Home, Napier, was opened in December, 1917. Since the opening fourteen cases have been admitted, and fourteen babies born. Two trained nurses from the General Hospital have gone through their course of midwifery training. The, Home is most comfortable and, since the extensive alterations required by the Department have been carried out, well adapted for the work. The Wairau Maternity Hospital, Blenheim, which, was opened in a small private house, has already been overtaxed for accommodation, and the, Board intends to make, better provision. The Picton Maternity Hospital provides for the. patients in the more isolated Sounds districts, and is a very useful and well-conducted institution. The. maternity wards attached to the three hospitals, Mangonui, Rawene, and Kawakawa, controlled by the Bay of Islands Board, are doing useful work. The Tauranga Hospital Board has established a small Home at Te Puke for maternity cases, with a small ward for emergency cases. The various charitable institutions for maternity cases, such as the Alexandra Home, Wellington; the St, Mary's Home, Otahuhu, Auckland ; the Bethany Home, Napier ; and the Salvation Army Homes in the chief centres, continue to do excellent work, and to meet the need of accommodation for single women. Private Hospitals. There have been, no changes in the administration of Part ITI of the Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Act. Since the outbreak of war no new private hospitals of any importance _have been established, partly owing to many senior nurses being away, and partly to the increased cost of living and the prohibitive price of building and alterations.

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