HOSPITAL HEADS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 189, 12 August 1939, Page 12

HOSPITAL HEADS.

RETROGRADE STEP.

TERMINATED APPOINTMENTS.

VIEWS OF PHYSICIAN.

The decision by the Auckland Hospital Board to terminate the appointments of Dr. C. R. Burns and Mr. J. M. Clarke, chiefs of the divisions of medicine and surgery, is commented upon by Dr. J. E. Caughey as follows: —

"As a physician practising in this city, and a member of the honorary staff of the Auckland Hospital, I regard it as my duty to rccord my opinion that the termination of the appointments of the chiefs of medicine and surgery on the grounds of alleged economy is a retrograde step in the development of our hospital services.

"It is an accepted principle in sound business that increased efficiency brings with it a reduction in costs, and to one working in the hospital it is apparent that since the appointment of these men there has been notable increase in efficiency in many departments. Since their advent they have arranged more detailed supervision of in-patients, dispensary facilities and the dietetic out-patient department and these readjustments alone must have decreased the average stay in hospital and reduced the number of readmissions.

Hospital Efficiency. "Such observations with their implication of lessened hospital costs serve to illustrate the contention that improved efficiency is economic, and I believe that, given the opportunity by the board, the men concerned could more than justify their appointments on the grounds of hospital efficiency and economy.

Dismissing for the moment economic considerations, let us examine the point of view of the individual patient. I am among those who believe that a hospital with a part-time visiting staff provides the best medical services for the community, but to function properly it requires the complementary services of highly qualified, experienced mei within the hospital. In this wav the work of the visiting staff is imple"mented by adequate supervision of its instructions to the nurses, junior medical officers and special departments. The patient then receives that continuity of high-class attention that

•modern medicine has to offer. This type of hospital staffing serves the London hospitals, and, in fact, all the leading hospitals of Britain and the United States of America.

Training of Nurses. "Finally, there is an academic aspect to the situation which up to now appears to have received insufficient consideration. The board accepts responsibility for training nurses and the even greater responsibility of training resident medical officers and final year students. These responsibilities cannot be

undertaken lightly. The lowering of efficiency, which I maintain must surely follow abolition of these posts, will certainly impede the development of a medical centre worthy of the citv of Auckland."