TOWN V COUNTRY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 49, Issue 200, 10 June 1929, Page 5

TOWN V COUNTRY

HOSPITAL LEVY SYSTEM. POPULATION OR PROPERTY? DISCUSSION BY THE BOARD. The question of town versus country again crept into a discussion by members of the Ashburton Hospital Board this morning, when a report on Los-, pital finance was being considered. Mr G. S. Hardy referred to the fact that the County was called upon to pay a levy'of £7742 10s Id, while the Borough Council and the Tinwald Town Board found only £679 13s 4d between them. This, he considered, was not fair, in view of the fact that 50 per cent, of the patients come from the Borough and Tinwald. The secretary (Mr A. Prentice) i Excuse me, Mr Hardy, they don’t. Mr Hardy: At the last report they .did, and 80 per cent, of the outpatients as well. We’ll give them a third, if you like; but it means that the County is paying 12) times as much as the other districts, and it is not an equitable distribution. There should be some scheme whereby the people pay for their own treatment. The Board should try to do something to ease the burden on the taxpayer, who is practically the. man on the land. Mr W. G. Gallagher: That matter is being discussed by the Counties Conference. I hope Sir Prentice will continue his bulletins.

Mr W. Bryant: I am glad to see that the County levy is going down. Mr Gallagher: But we hope to see it lower yet. Dr. J. IT. Wells: It is a varying amount, of course. Does the Board propose to pursue this matter cf town v. country, as mentioned by Mr Hardy For, if so, 'I have something to say about it. The chairman (Mr W. T. Lill): I think Mr Prentice had better leave it alone while the Government has this question before it. It has been a trouble from the beginning. At one place, you notice, there is a kind of insurance scheme working, everyone m the community paying so much a week and receiving free treatment. There are many difficulties in the scheme. In Sir Harry Atkinson’s time we had 40 per cent, of patients from the town and 60 per cent, from the country.. Now we have 45 per cent, from the town and 55 per cent, from the country. It appears that the Government should father a new scheme of levying, and the counties are asking for a 50-50 basis.

Discussion ceased at this point