DISMISSAL OF NURSES

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20955, 8 September 1933, Page 3

DISMISSAL OF NURSES

BULLER HOSPITAL BOARD CRITICISED CHAIRMAN REPLIES TO DEMAND FOR ENQUIRY (SI'ECUI. TO THE PBESS.) WESTPORT, September 7. The dismissal, following an enquiry by the board, of two nurses working at the Buller Hospital has led to considerable criticism of the Hospital Board in Westport, suggestions having been made that a public enquiry should be held, and also that an enquiry should be made into the matter by the Department of Health. A statement has now been made in reply to the board's critics by the Hon. W. H. Mclntyre, chairman of the Hospital Board. With the exception of one board member, Mrs Foreman, the statement declares, all the members of the board see no reason for holding a special meeting. In view of this, the letters of protest against their dismissal sent in by Misses Dawson and Gibson will come before the board's ordinary meeting, which is to be held on Tuesday. The proposal to hold a public enquiry that had been made in some quarters could not be entertained, the statement goes on to say, for the principal evidence, the hospital sisters' reports, were absolutely confidential and could not be produced. "If there was the slightest possibility of such reports being made public, then they would not be worth the paper they are written on," says Mr Mclntyre's statement "A departmental enquiry into the board's decision has been asked for," the statement continues, "and the Director-General of Health is now considering whether there are any grounds for such an enquiry. The only reason for which I have asked a departmental officer to visit the Buller Hospital is to investigate and prove to the general public that the board was not guilty, as was alleged, of acting unjustly. "The board has no feelings in the j matter, has nothing to hide, and would ] welcome a departmental enquiry. So far as the board is concerned, the incident is closed, the nurses are no longer on the board's staff, and their positions have been filled. "Reinstatement Impossible." "It must be obvious that the reinstatement in Buller Hospital of the nurses dismissed is quite impossible. Bitter press correspondence, unjustly attacking members of the board, which was based on ex parte statements, has created this position. The board has full jurisdiction over uncertificated nurses in the board's employ, and its decisions are final. I can assure the general public that the enquiry was properly conducted and the board acted honestly in the matter. As chairman of the board, I had the unpleasant task of conducting this enquiry, but I challenge the nurses concerned to say that I was in any way domineering, or abused my position in the slightest degree. The personnel of the board should be sufficient guarantee that the nurses received a fair hearing. "It is not correct for the nurses dismissed to say that there was nothing against them at the enquiry, as the sisters' reports I read, apart from anything else, were progressively bad. In this connexion I wish to exclude the present sisters in the hospital from being responsible for the board's decision." Mr Mclntyre's statement goes on to refer to the two nurses, stating that the failure of Miss Dawson to pass the first year examination on elementary anatomy and physiology, although she had been about two years in the hospital, coupled with the fact that the ward sisters reported that she was not interested in her work and was not reliable, convinced the board that nursing was not Miss Dawson's vocation. "Miss Gibson was in a different position," the statement continues. "She, no doubt, has the ability to pass the examinations if she put her mind to it, but when she calmly informed the board that she took no interest in her work, that she did hot wish to come to Westport to train, reminding the matron that her application was in her mother's writing, and that she would have resigned long ago, but that her mother made her stay on, the board had no option but to give her notice. No doubt this lack of interest was responsible for the very bad reports on | her ward work. . . . The board has no [desire to prevent Miss Gibson from finishing her hospital training, and would be prepared to recommend to the department to allow the time spent at Buller Hospital to count in any other hospital. General Administration. "In connexion with the demand in the press for an enquiry into the general administration of the hospital, I would point out that the board has never received one complaint in writing in this respect," the statement goes on. "Put through the proper channel, any such complaints will receive due consideration at board meetings. I have received a 'Round Robin,' signed by a number of the nurses, protesting against the dismissal of Misses Dawson and Gibson, and supporting a list of questions to the board," continues the statement, which says that an answer will be given at the next board meeting, and that the board has evidence showing how some of the nurses' signatures were obtained. Mr Mclntyre's report concludes: "I might add, in conclusion, that there is a long waiting list of applicants for training in the Buller Hospital, most o2 whom probably are seriously desirous of becoming nurses, and \frho will not be there against their will, and with regard to whom there will not come before the board the report 'She takes no interest in her work and is unreliable.' If such an one should creep into the staff, I shall have no hesitation then, as now, in letting her try some other vocation. Sick persons need those who not only take interest in their work, but are careful, industrious, and intelligent."