ST. HELENS HOMES.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20711, 23 November 1932, Page 7

ST. HELENS HOMES.

-——♦ FEAR OF ABANDONMENT. EXPRESSION BY LABOUR j MEMBERS. [From' Out Pahuamentary Hei'ortkr.] WELLINGTON, November "irl. Home lears that the proposal requiring Hospital Boards to provide maternity hospitals when called upon by the Director-General of Health might lead ultimately to the abandonment of the Est. Helens HomcH was expressed in the House to-day. when the Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Amendment Bill was under consideration at the second reading stage. Under Hie ] main Act of JO2O, section 75, it is simply stated that a Hospital Board may establish a maternity home. Many Boards have done so. but the Minister lor Health (the Hon. .). A. loung) explained that it is proposed to maKe the. provision mandatory since some Boards have declined to provide the service when asked to do -o. "I can see in ibis clause the shutin" of the cost of maternity services from the shoulders of the Government to those of the Hospital Boards, said Mr M. -I- Savajie lLab., Auckland West) who is a member ol the Auckland Hospital Board. "It is not such a .simple thing as it appears on the surface. 'Hie Minister says -there is need of it, that there arc indigent persons in various districts, and that the Boards should provide for them. 1 airee that Hospital Boards, so long as we have them operating under existing conditions, should accept responsibility lor maternity as well as every other kind of medical service, but seeing that the service is already being, provided in part nt least by the Government itself, what reason is there for shifting the'responsibility irom the guardianship of the Government to the shoulders of the local taxpayers? with all due respect to what the Minister has said, 1 think that is the major reason for the-change." Speaking in a similar strain, Mr W. E. Parry (Lab., Auckland Central) asked the Minister to have the clause redrafted so that the St. Helens hospital system would be safeguarded. St. Helen Homes were established to assist the working man's wife. The Minister: They were established first to provide maternity homes where nurses could be trained, and, second, to enable working people to obtain ma ternilv service at a low rate. Mr ..Young said there was noturn S sinister in the clause of which Mr Savage and Mr I'nrrv bad complained. Many" Boards provided maternity services, but others questioned the right of the Department to insist upon services where thev were necessary. Mr Parrv: But is not the clause wide enough to effect SI. Helens Homes. . Mr Young: That raises another isMie •iltocethrr. You would not close up the Homes vc.y easily The public would want to know all about, it. It j« verv easy, to find possibilil ios m any Bill. '