ST. HELENS HOSPITAL.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19972, 5 July 1930, Page 19

ST. HELENS HOSPITAL.

TO-TM EDITOB Of TH! CM" Sir,—Now that this very vexed question of the Christchurch St. Helens Hospital is so much in the limelight, perhaps I may beg a little of your valuable space-in which to make a few remarks on'the subject. For four and a half years I was Medical Officer in charge of this institution. When I took charge, May, 1920, I *° und ., th . 0 8 building just much the same a > it is now-a patched-up ramshackle old public house, about as fittefj° r £°£ em midwifery as the Lichfield street Post Office would be. Thank» to the excellent nursing staff it was asdcan and well conducted as was possible in such a building. T *°™ tare was in an impoverished condition, there were no bedside Ackers, the labour theatre was hopelessly small and badly ventilated, and there _»as Isolation • Block; „„,fpr P d in The nursing staff were eottages that were a' perfect djsgrace sometimes three nurses. totry to sleep in one room. **sJs™& with headquarters in w . clu "^ ht ' U aily the local Health' Office, we eventuaUy managed to obtain a .visit . f «snec 10 from Dr. Valintine and. Dr. wyi then Inspector, Division of H°*V™ I managed to get an order *"»*£ for new hospital furniture, lockers, and a new building for nurs quarters, and: the time-honoured paint lg and patching of rat-holes and of tt. building was done. Later on, "much pressure," wo managed to get Isolation Block built. . thtit Dr. Wylie to me then tha "a new building for tospitaji w possible- as there was no ™° ney of spare." Frequently *«*"&.%?£»« office we were overcrowded fl ™ n 0^cer and had to notify the Med ca! . O* of Health in order to avoia trouble. •■■*.•■■■ •„ &nv tiosNow, Sir, overero*tog » *J mion pital is always a. dangerous c for the patients and a very 6™

on the matron and ber staff, but I ,think it is even more dangerous in a maternity hospital, the reason being that should a case of puerperal lever develop there, or be inadvertently admitted in its early stages (a condition not always easy to recognise at.its commencement), a rapid spread of the infection is possible even with the very greatest care on the part of the Medical Officer and nursing staff. Beyond the usual coat of paint and patchwork this disgraceful condemned "public house" still remains the Public Maternity Hospital of a City of over one hundred thousand people, while ex-pensively-constructed (I might even say "luxurious") country hospitals have sprung up at Rangiora, Lincoln, Darfield, and elsewhere. These excellent institutions Avere badly needed, I a "s u 'J> , but surely, Sir, this growing City had, and still has, more urgent need. I consider that the amazingly excellent record of work by the Christchureh St. Helens Hospital is entirely and only due to. the, various matrons, and their purses who have worked and are still working under conditions which would be very severely condemned and criticised by most,. if not all, of our politicians were they but given the opportunity of "one hour's personal mspecI tion" of the totally antiquated and inadequate building and the accommodation it provides for suffering womanhood—Yours, etc., A. DOUGLAS ANDERSON, ' ■ , ■ M.R.C;S. (Eng.), L.E.C.P. July 4th, 1930