HOSPITAL FEES.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19311, 16 May 1928, Page 13

HOSPITAL FEES.

, AUCKLAND BOARD MAKES BAD DEBTS. [THE PRESS Special Serrlce.] AUCKLAND, May 15. "One has only to attend these meetings, analyse the cases, and crossexamine some of the debtors, to fully realise the extent of the poverty in the city, due mainly to unemployment." This statement was contained in a report furnished by the Fees Committee to the Auckland Hospital Board. The report stated that single men again predominated among the debtors, many of them having their parents dependent on them, and being unable to meet their debts. Hundreds of letters were sent to the Board expressing regret for inability to settle accounts, the causes generally being unemployment and sickness. , A summary of the fees collected during the past year compared with the previous year showed that last year there was an increase in collection from in-patients of £1709. Fees from in-patients amounting to £46,038 were written off last year, compared with £28,365 during the previous year. A number of accounts ranging from £IOO to £llBB are included in these figures. The largest accounts are in respect of two patients who have been bed-ridden for. a number of years. One patient owes £llBB, and the other £SOO. In neither of these cases was it possible to collect a penny.

The Fees Committeo has some unusual experiences. The report stated that a foreigner who was 15 days in the hospital in October last paid £3 in reduction of his account of £7 4s 6d. He was not heard of again, but last week a draft for the balance was.received direct from him, and issued through a bank, in Germany.