BIG DEFICITS.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19818, 4 January 1930, Page 5

BIG DEFICITS.

AUSTRALIAN HOSPITALS. LOTTERY DEMAND IN NEW SOUTH WALES. (FKOJI ova OW* CORRESPONDENT.) SYDNEY, December 26. An insistent demand has developed in New South Wales for a State lottery for the upkeep of hospitals whose finances for years past have been in a precarious condition. the big metropolitan hospitals in fcydnt*y aie working oil a huge deficit each year and the overdraft :s mounting up to an alarming extent. In some instances the banks have warned the hospital committees that there must come a time when the overdraft cannot he increased. It was because of the general concern for the hospitals that a new Commission was appointed to put tho finances and the general control of the institutions on a sound footing. There is no hospital rate as is the case ill New Zealand, and the hospitals depend on voluntary contributions and patients' fees—and the latter often are not collected. Ihe whole svstem is entirely unsatisfactory. Many municipal councils have enthusiasticaJlv supported the lottery idea which keeps the hospitals m Queensland in a flourishing condition, nut they are doomed to disappointment, for the Premier (3lr iiavm) lias stated positively that as far as his Government is concerned there will be 110 lottery. The Commission has not yet brought about any reforms, hut it is practically certain that the payment of fees will be strictly enforced where it is shown that patients can afford to meet a reasonable charge. In addition the public hospital may be thrown open to all who arc prepared to pav lor treatment irrespective oi their status in the community. In Victoria the position is the same. Public charities subsidised l.v the Government including the great public hospitals, ended no last year—to June Qfltli with a deficit of £113,46-5. Overdrafts amounted to £160.000. H is generallv recognised there, too. that a crisis has been reached. Van°us remedies have been suggested but a discussion of these has been held oyer pending an announcement by the new Labour Government of its polity. Suggestions have « ™ If m the southern State for a o 1 • -_ cates of the lottery d«larct of contribute. . , ~„kodt- „ 1 4.1. elites it !i;is been a>K' u . Are not the hospi tal f a'ffm'd ment to patients -'ho y n enhmitted to pav? Schemes have been M.bra,tteH nrovidincr for a contributorv insuiance tino„ B ho»t tli' J.™™ Bow of Ihc me.ro^" 80 per cent, ot WJ 1 lndu striat areas If f sc'« r . the treatment, t» fit _ The mthe usual & „ 6?Sr JT"' f^lo a system is f £' C x e '£ South Vales t ?lts ire so satisfactory that and the results are p|an it is surprising ra , k no f here for organisation is ample scope on a gm