HIGH PRAISE

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 79, 4 April 1938, Page 17

HIGH PRAISE

WORK OF SURGEONS.

AUSTRALASIAN COLLEGE.

SERVICE TO THE PUBLIC, i I High praise for tho work done by tin- , Fellows of the Royal Australasian ' College of Surgeons was given by Dr. ■ J. ITr.rdie Noil, vim returned to Auck- I land on Saturday isfVr having attended j the eleventh annual general meeting «>i the college in Sydney. The meetings, he said, showed that the Fellows were engaged in general and special surgery, with active scientific investigation oi surgical problems. | He stated that the object of the | college was to offer the public an efli- . cient surgical ' service of practitioners | who were qualified academically and by practical experience, and who were kept up to date with all recent developments. Post-graduate teaching was a matter considered to be of vital importance, and courses of instruction were to be provided at the new PTince Henrv Hospital in Melbourne, which was to be staffed by Fellows of the college. Mr. Cordon Craig, a distinguished Sydney surgeon, had provided scholarships, open to Xcw Zealanders. to enable worthy applicants to benefit from facilities in Australia. Survey of Hospitals. Hospital authorities in Australia recognised the public-spirited objects of the college, and it was represented on the advisory boards of the main hospitals. The Auckland Hospital was the first in Xew Zealand to adopt that safeguard. The survey of hospitals was also undertaken by the college, and it tln»y were not graded first class it was the duty of Citizens to inquire the reasons. He had been vrlvately told by one prominent surgeon the "intermediate bed" svstem, bv which some agreed payment was made, had solved the waiting list. In the Melbourne Hospital, he said, there were more intermediate beds than public beds. The policy was deemed unacceptable in Xew Zealand, but the authorities might inquire as to the position in Melbourne. "Two outstanding contribvitions at the meeting."' said Dr. Hardie Neil, "were those of Dr. George Swift, of Seattle, a noted specialist in brain surgery and official delegate from the American College of Surgeons, and Dr. I'pdegraff. delegate from the SurgeonGeneral of the United States Navy, who is in charge of the reparative surgery section.' .