HOSPITAL DIET.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 196, 28 May 1940, Page 8

HOSPITAL DIET.

BEER' AND STOUT CUT OUT. DECISION AT AUCKLAND'. (Per Press Association). AUCKLAND, May 27. With bottles as well as their con-, tents disappearing at what was con* . sidered to be a perplexing rate, ale and StoiiV will no longer be part of the invalid diet for. patients in the Auckland Hospital. A decision to discontinue the use of beer at the institution was made by the Hospital Board to-night, but the ban does not extend to the military annexe, and there will bo no interference with the prescription ot such stimulants as brandy. Introducing a motion that the use ol ale and stout should bo discontinued at the hospital, Mr J. V. Macky said the use of liquor was being more and more discouraged in the'leading hospitals of the world, and stimulants of this typo were not considered to be essential to modern medical practice. The opinion was that liquor had an adverse effect upon the restoration of health. Declaring that he was a teetotaller, Dr. Hastings said he hesitated to adopt the proposal immediately. There were medical aspects which he would like to investigate from the latest authorities before expressing a definite opinion. • An amendment that the hospital executive should investigate the position and report to the board was introduced by Mrs Dreaver. She considered it was not a decision, for laymen to make. PI am not a wowser, but -this question of beer consumption at the hos- ’ pital has given me concern,” said the chairman (Mr Allan Moody). “A- few years; ago, as many as 1 800 bottles of p ale and stout were used in a month. As a result of the stand taken bv this board, the figure was reduced to 143 bottles, but last month it rose again ■to 418, and in'the last two weeks more than 300 bottles have been used. The strange, part ’ is that last month 93 empty bottles were not returned.” Mr J. Sayegh suggested that beer should be issued according to a doctor’s certificate. Di’. Hilda Northcroft said that ale and stout were practically never prescribed in private hospitals. The amendment was lost, and the resolution was carried, with Mrs Dreaver and Mr Sayegh dissenting.