HOSPITAL BOARD CRITICISED

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22308, 24 January 1938, Page 5

HOSPITAL BOARD CRITICISED

FORTY-HOUR WEEK PROPOSAL, CHAIRMAN REPLIES TO STATEMENTS Statements made at the December meeting of the Buller Hospital Board by Mr W. J. Caldwell when moving that the board take steps to .introduce a 40-hour week for the nursing and domestic staffs in the institutions under its control and criticisms levelled at the board and board members in a section of the local press were replied to by the chairman (the Hon. W. H. Mclntyre, M.L.C.) at the monthly meeting on Friday night. During the discussion, Mr R. J.Hawes accused Mr Caldwell of having sponsored the 40-hour week proposal for electioneering purposes, but the statement was withdrawn when a point of order was raised by the chairman. Referring to the criticism/the chairman said he had thought it only fair to board members that the matter should be cleared up and the public acquainted with the facts. With that object in view he had requested the Matron (Miss E. B. Paterson), in collaboration with the Medical Superintendent (Dr. P. L. Foote) to prepare a statement showing the actual hours worked by the nursing and domestic staffs at the hospital. The report showed the hours of the nursing staff as follows:—Morning duty, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., including halfhour for breakfast, half-hour for dinner, and 10 minutes for morning tea. Actual time worked, 6 hours 50 minutes; afternoon duty, 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., including 10 minutes for afternoon tea and half-hour for tea. Actual time worked, 7 hours 20 minutes. Night duty, 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., including halfhour for supper. Actual time worked, 7 hours SO minutes. Each nurse was allowed two days off a month, and three when the staff allowed. During the three months ended December 31, each nurse had had eight days off with one exception, and that nurse had had six days and two days sick leave.

"Before we can increase the staff," the report continued, "we need increased accommodation, as at present we are taxed to the utmost and have four nurses sleeping in two rooms and two using the balcony on the nurses' home, which is not very satisfactory." The hours of the domestic staff were shown in the report as follows:—6.3o a.m. to 2 p.m., and 4.30 p.m. to 6 p.m.. including half-hour for breakfast, half-hour for dinner, 10 minutes for morning tea, and. half-hour foe tea; actual time worked, 7 hours 20 minutes. Each member of the staff was given one whole day off each week and also alternate Sunday afternoons, which was equivalent to six days a month off.

The chairman said the exaggerated statements that had appeared in the press about the way the board treated its staff were unfair. Some people tried to make the board out as little short of slave drivers.

Mr Caldwell objected to the deduction of meal hours from the time worked, and contended it was quite true that the domestic staff were there from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m., and that they were on duty seven days a week. What was the 40-hour week legislation put on the Statute Book for, he asked.

Mr Hawes said there was no doubt that Mr Caldwell was doing his best for the staff and a" little bit of electioneering for himself.

At the request of the chairman, Mr Hawes withdrew his remark..He said that a section of the local press had deliberately tried to mislead the public into believing that the board had rejected the 40-hour week proposal without giving it proper consideration, but Mr Hawes said that notice of the motion was given by Mr Caldwell a month before it was discussed, and board members had had that period to consider the proposal. They spent an hour discussing it with the matron before the meeting. He was sure that when the required additional accommodation was provided every member of the board would support the 40-hour week. Mr Fox said that Mr Caldwell knew as well as anyone else that it was the desire of the board to provide the best possible conditions for its staffs, and that it was impossible to increase the staff until more accommodation was provided. The chairman said it was not fair criticism to state that the nurses were working 12 hours a day and that they were on duty seven days a week. Mr Caldwell said that at the previous meeting he had said that the matron was doing her best for the staffs under the circumstances.

Mr R. Finlayson said he sympathised with Mr Caldwell's point of view and with the nurses, but the board was doing the very pest it could for them and he did not think there was any cause for complaint. "As a member of the board I am thoroughly satisfied with the conditions in our hospital," he added. Claiming that the board treated its staff better than any other board in New Zealand, the chairman said he would like members to question those nurses who had recently been at the Christchurch Hospital, and ask them where they would prefer to work. At present the board was proposing to spend £14,000 to provide accommodation for the existing staff. There was not a more sympathetic board in New Zealand, and they paid better wages than 95 per cent, of the boards in the Dominion.

Mr Finlayson complimented the chairman on having brought the matter forward again. There had been a lot of talk in the country, and he was sure publication of the matron's report on the hours of work would clear the air.