The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1939. HEALTH AND HOSPITALS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 33, 9 February 1939, Page 10

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1939. HEALTH AND HOSPITALS.

For the cause that lacke assistance, For the irrong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that ice can do.

Tt hits lonjr I)poii acce]>to(l that the " jjfiuTiil priu'titioiirr service," for whirh li'iri-l)ilive provision wjis maile in tlic Social Security Art, fiiiinot lii'jjin on April 1. The Minister iif Hcnltli, in his ndtlrcsn to the hor-pital Itmiiil-.' cuiit'erenco yesterday, itidicated tliat tint only the medical, hut also the pharmaceutical, ho.-pital and maternity heneli(-i he postponed, thoujrh he wishes to he in a position "very soon ,, to name t lie hp<;imiiti<; date. This jjap hetween li-jji-liitivi' achie\ement and the completion of administrative preparations was of eourse ineffltahlr, tliouyli tlie (iovemment during ttie elect inn campaign was careful not to stress it. Mr. Kraser, upon whom chiefly falls the onerous tn>k of jrivinjj jiractical form to Ihe generalities of the Act, cannot he hlained for refusing to rush his fences. There will he jrnitiiblinjj at the delay, es|)ecially ns it seems certain that for some weeks or months the people, will he eontrihiitinjr for benefits some of which will not be available to them, but it is less important to avoid temporary criticism than to ensure, if possible, that when the scheme is launched it will work with the minimum of friction. On the question of the Act as it affects hospitals the Minister pave much information, hut it was not of a kind likely to be comforting to hospital boards or the local bodies, which must continue to pay hospital boards' levie«. According , to Mr. J-'raser, hospital accommodation is estimated to be 1000 beds short of present requirements, and there "may" be an increased demand for hospital treatment when the Act i* operative. Most people would say that such an increase is certain. The extra burden, the weight of which cannot be estimated now, may be offset by a reduction in the -cost of out-patient, maternity and charitable aid services, and administration. But the amount by which cost increases is not offset by cost reductions will, it seems, fall on the Consolidated Fund and the, local ratepayers, in proportions yet to be determined. Thus the anomaly inherent in the present system of hospital finance will be perpetuated nnd accentuated. It n man's illness requires him to consult a general" practitioner, who prescribes medicines, the cost of hiss treatment will fall on the Social Security Fund. If, however, his illness is such that he needs treatment in hospital, the cost of making him well will be shared by the fund, the Government and the local property owner. There is no easy and quick way of rectifying this anomaly, but in the meantime the Minister should pay more heed to the demand of local bodies for a more equitable system of hospital rating.