DEATH OF A BABY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 246, 31 July 1935, Page 7

DEATH OF A BABY

AUCKLAND HOSPITAL INQUIRY.

FINDING OF THE BOARD. (Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, July 30. The need for a stronger medical staff at the Auckland Hospital, and improvement in the admitting system,' was emphasised by members of the Hospital Board, after a special .inquiry into the circumstances of the death, in the hospital on June 25, from bronchial pneumonia, of Derek Quinton, aged six months, the son of Mr and Mrs F. H. Quinton, of New Lynn. The inquiry arose out of the receipt by the board of a letter from Mi Quinton, alleging that his child baa received inadequate treatment in the hospital. The substance of the allegations was that there had been delay in admitting the child, that he was bathed and placed in a cold bed on admission, and that no doctor saw the child “between the time of admission and its death about four hour latei. Nurse White, who was on duty in the ward when the child was admitted, said it was not bathed, but was dressed in warm clothes in a bathroom and then brought back to the ward, where it was placed in a bed warmed by a hot-water bottle. It was admitted at 7 p.m., but no doctor saw it until Dr. Keenan came to the ward about ,9 p.m. Mrs Quinton said she had waited about 20 minutes in the waiting-room before her baby, was admitted. She saw no doctor then, nor did she see one in the ward. When she and her husband left the hospital about 8.3 U no doctor had examined the child. Dr. McGill said that Dr. Keenan had been relieving him that night. The, latter had been working on an urgent case in another part of the hospital, and went to see the baby as soon as his urgent work was finished. t Superintendent’s Statement. “One thing I frankly do not understand is how there came to e a delay of 20 minutes in the waiting room ” said Dr. J. W. Craven (medical superintendent of the hospital). “Even a wait of 10 minutes would, have ’been too long. , “In this case there was nothing to indicate that it was urgent. If there was a delay of two hours before a doctor saw the child, I do not think that made the slightest difference from a medical point of view. As to our resident staff, there are never fewer than five qualified and registered medical practitioners on duty night and day. However, I think we shall need more in the future. Di. Keenan, whose name has been mentioned in this case, is no longer on the staff; but it is only .fair to hnn to point out that he put in his resignation on May 31, long before the baby Quinton came into the hospital. He resigned to go to England.” . „ , Mr W. Wallace (chairman ox the Board), said that what concerned him was that Dr. Keenan should have said in his written statement that he saw the child at 7.30 p.m., when he did not see it until 9 o’clock. ihe nurses had given their evidence m a satisfactory, straightforward way; hut the doctors had not. It was decided that the Board should declare as its finding that the inquiry demonstrated! the need foi larger medical staff, with a proportion of senior men. It was decided to appoint a sub-committee to investigate the question of admissions, and the early appointment of a night admitting officer.

ANOTHER INQUIRY.

CONFIDENCE IN DOCTOR’S WORK

AUCKLAND, July 30. Further complaints about treatment of his son in the Auckland Hospital were made by William Morrissey, of Kingsland, at a special meeting of the Hospital Board. The boy, Desmond Wallace Morrissey, aged three years, died in' the hospital on May 29 while a cisternal puncture was being performed as treatment for a form of meningitis. - At an earlier inquiry, the Board decided that the correct treatment had been followed. In asking ,for the inquiry to be reopened, Mr Morrissey said Dr. It. J. McGill, who performed the operation, had admitted at the coroner’s inquest that he had punctured a blood vessel during the operation. Mr Morrissey disagreed with witnesses at the earlier inquiry that there was no hope of recovery from influenzal meningitis, and submitted that the operation on his son should have been carried out in the operating theatre, and not in the ward. The inquiry came to an abrupt end when Dr. McGill refused to answer any questions by Morrissey. The Board had accepted bis statement at the .previous inquiry, he said, and he had nothing further to add to it. If necessary, he would discuss the matter further in private with Mr Morrissey. This offer Mr Morrissey declined. The Board expressed confidence in Dr. McGill’s work.