DOCTORS DEFIED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 208, 2 September 1932, Page 7

DOCTORS DEFIED.

TALK OF "WALKOUT.'' CRISIS AT BAIiMAIN, W.S.W, HOSPITAL BOARD STANDS FIRM. A demand by the honorary medical staff of Balmain Hospital, 2ST.S.W., for the reinstatement of the surgeon recently omitted from the list of reappointments failed to move the board at its meeting last week. .The secretary of the honorary staff wrote that members approved of the action of the surgeon in discharging from hospital a patient eligible for workers' compensation, in order that the doctor would have the right to charge his fees for ' treatment. In regard to a second demand by the doctors for the immediate registration of the hospital under section 35 of the Act, the Hospitals Commission wrote that it would, be satisfied if the institution were so registered, even though separate accommodation were not provided for private patients. It was a matter of urgency, the letter said, for all hospitals to register in view of the B.M.A. attitude. Letter From B.M.A. In some hospitals the practice was to refuse to admit workers' compensation cases, but this could be overcome by registration. A letter from the B.M.A. which was forwarded by the commission said it was impossible for medical practitioners legally to charge f° r _ treatment unless hospitals were registered for the purpose, and, in consequence, they were being penalised. Although ready at all times to treat the indigent sick, it was not considered that tliey should be called upon to give their services free of charge to people able to pay. A further letter, from the wife of the displaced surgeon, asked that her name be removed from the list of honorary lifegovernors of the hospital, to which position she was appointed for services rendered, and that, in future, the board should refrain from asking for her assistance. Her action, she said, was a protest against "the libellous criticism" of her husband. Mr. Reed said the board had set its face against registration, because it could not find accommodation even for those who could not pay. "Do Their Worst." Referring to the probability of the honorary medical staff resigning in a body, Mr. Reed mentioned that some years age'the medical men walked out,and the hospital was left to carry on the best it could. The most militant body of unionists would not have adopted the stand-and-deliver attitude of the doctors. They could, at least, have asked for a conference. Mr. Boyd mentioned that a second doctor also was omitted from the reappointments, but no protest was being made about him. "The doctors haven't been game to walk out," he said. "We should stand by our previous decision and let them do their worst. If they walk out, the onus will be on the Government to investigate the whole matter." 1 The president denied that the doctor was displaced because of the compensation case. It was his attitude to the board's management committee which caused the decision. At that committee the doctor, when questioned about the case, wanted to know who was the best judge, "the medical man or a coal lumper." He had been before the committee on other occasions. The decision that the board would continue to exercise its perogative in appointing doctors was carried unanimously. £Bm