HOUSE SURGEONS PROTEST.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20225, 1 May 1931, Page 10

HOUSE SURGEONS PROTEST.

SALARY REDUCTIONS AT WELLINGTON. advertisement provokes board. " [THE PRESS Special Service.j WELLINGTON, April 30. Simultaneous with tho insertion of an advertisement in the "Dominion" that they -would be glad to hear of vacancies in other hospitals, the house surgeons of the Wellington Hospital -wrote to the Board protesting against the assessment of "living in" accommodation as a means of further reducing salaries. "This is rather an extraordinary position," commented the chairman, Mr F. Castle. . Mrs A. McVicar said she thought the Board should ignore the communication. The chairman: We are forced to take notice. My attention has been drawn to the advertisement in this morning's ■'Dominion." I should like to say that Mr Luke and myself agreed upon what we thought was a fair assessment. I suggest that you leave the matter in our hands. I am sorry the protest was made in such, an unconstitutional manner. I certainly think the house surgeons have been most indisereet. Mr F. Bennett: Were you not consulted before the advertisement appeared? The chairman: No, certainly not. I interviewed the writer of the letter this morning and advised him to cancel any further advertisement. This sort' of thing will only recoil on them. In Their Own Hands. Mr C. M. Luke said he would say to eu> h of the house surgeons that if they thought they could better themselves elsewhere then the remedy was in their own hands. In Great Britain young men coveted positions as house surgeons in order that they might get valuable experience. He had known times in Wellington when medical students prayed and longed for the day when their names would appear on the list of approved house surgeons. Salaries in those days were £SO to £100; to-day they ranged from £l5O to £250. House surgeons also received emoluments not thought of a few years ago. "If they are disgruntled they should get out," declared Mr Luke. "I believe that if a call were made for volunteers, the medical profession would rise to the occasion. We are compelled to do things contrary to our inclinations, yet here we have men drawing salaries protesting when thousands of .people don't know where their next meal is I coming from. These young men should Ibe made to realise the crisis we are facing." The chairman remarked that he regarded the surgeons' action as an attempt to bludgeon the Board. Mr Luke: We have no evidence as to what Cbristchurch and Auckland are doing, and we are not very much concerned. If the house surgeons thihk conditions elsewhere are better, they should leave our service. ; Suspension Suggested.

Mrs McVicar "said she felt very strongly on the question, particularly when she thought of the thousands of married men with families wno had to struggle along on lebs than £4 per week. "I think we ought to suspend these young jnen," she said. After further discussion the chairman said he and Mr Luke would undertake to go into the whole question again and report to the Board meeting on Tuesday. < The house surgeons of the Wellington Hospital have for sojne time been dissatisfied with their general conditions of work, and in particular with the quality, variety, and serving of their food. They complain that there is no heating in their bedrooms, that their recreation room is inadequately heated by steam, and that there is no room in which they can study in quiet. They state that they are compelled to take professional responsibility for furnishing the insurance certificates of patients, and aro riot allowed to collect the fees. In most other hospitals the practice is that the fees go to the officers furnishing the reports, but in the Wellington Hospital the fees go to the Board.