HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 299, 18 December 1935, Page 6

HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT.

As a step towards improving the administrative facilities at the Hospital, the Hospital Board's decision to establish a block of offices in. the grounds of the institution lias the defect that it is not part of a unified scheme. The aggregation of buildings on the Hospital reserve has been formless and unplanned, and the present proposal will perpetuate the unsystematic growth of what has become a township. The disadvantages of having 1 the offices in Kitchener Street have long been obvious. Small offices have had to be established in various parts of the Hospital buildings, and tliis has meant duplication and increased cost. There are arguments in favour of having the office block located close to the centre of the city, but they do not compare in importance with those for placing it close to the Hospital. But the other problems of the Hospital are unaffected by this proposal. Overcrowding remains. The weaknesses in the layout of the buildings are still there. The need of a well-planned hospital policy is as strong as ever. All this is clear. Yet the Board fails to attempt any major solution. In recent years vision has never been one of its strong points, and, while approving the present move to place the administration on a better basis, the public will ask whether this is a promise of a more enlightened policy, or just another instance of failure to grapple with the whole hospital problem.