The Auckland Hospital.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 203, 31 August 1887, Page 2

The Auckland Hospital.

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—Mr Suiter's letter to the Star of 30th August is such a tissue of misstatements that I cannot let it pass unchallenged, and must therefore crave your indulgence whilst I correct some of his errors.

He says that the fever wards were erected at the instigation of Dr. Girdler. If such is the case, I can only say that Dr. Girdler acted on his own responsibility in making his demands of tho Board, as the Honorary Staff was in ignorance of his action, he having no right to act without the concurrence of all its members, and it was the duty of the Board to find out whether or not the whole staff considered such expensive wards necessary, and not to be carried away, in so important a matter, by the arbitrary demands of one man, who was also a junior member of the staff.

Mr Suiter says that when the demand was made the fever season was practically over. This is not true. There were at the time to which he refers thirty-two cases of typhoid fever in the already crowded main building, and it was imperatively necessary for the safety of the other patients that these should be removed, and at once. The Honorary Staff was not consulted as a whole, but when asked for my opinion as to what should be done I said that a temporary building of second-hand material, or tents, would have met all requirements, and than such could be erected at a trifling cost. Dr Haines and other members of the staff expressed the same opinion. To. revert to Mr Suiter's statement that the fever season was over when the wards were erected, and to show that he was incorrect in saying so, I have to state that the last fever patient left the wards nob ten days ago.

Again, Mr Suiter, referring to the fever wards, says:-" In fact £3,f300 has been thrown away 'at the whim of one man Now this appears to me proof ttwto ye .of bhe incompetence of the Board, for it must have been gross ignorance or negligence on its part tS squxnder £3,000 nW<M; suiting the whole staff merely because one member of it, withoutl having; any,nght to do so, says, "I must have this and 1 must Save that." There is no excuse vvha ever for the action of the Board on this head Mr Suiter would lead bhe public to suppose that in Great Britain -hospital patients are each attended by the^w ho c staff, because he says that here each pataent is allotted to one member, and the others do not interfere unless requested to do so. Of course they don't, and such is the system all over the world. How could Roe seven men in the ordinary course treat one j#Oj"Jj in cases of danger or difficulty where the advice of the whole staff is. sought, and not in the ordinary treatment of a simple case. Mr Suiter lam sorry to say, here displays lamentable ignorance of the simplestVtailsof hospital routine and I fear there are other members of bhe Board equally ill-informed ' It is unnecessary bo refer further to this paragraph, which bristles with absurdities - for instance, where he states that accident cases invariably arrive by night. The writer shows himself to be a true disciple of charity and huma "kindness when he styles the late Maternity Ward, a place where young women can congregate from all parts of the North Island to hrde their disgrace." I think such a sentiment utterly unworthy of a member of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, and an msulb to Christian charity. ~.,,., It would be hard mdeed if charity, which is a truly liberal virtue were not extended to saint and sinner alike. In conclusion I have only to say that the Board has made an unprecedented number of blunders during the last year, and is now on the very brink of its crowning act of foil v.—Yours, &c, j. C. MacMullen, . Hon. Medical Staff, Auckland Hospital. Alten Road, August 30, 1887.