Central Authority On Care Of Aged Persons Held Necessary

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28103, 19 October 1956, Page 3

Central Authority On Care Of Aged Persons Held Necessary

“I do not think there is any risk of these central and district committees growing into cumbersome, topheavy organisations. Their representation on the Central Advisory Committee in Wellington is largely of a voluntary nature, and the central committee has only one paid secretary,” said the chairman of the Christchurch Aged People’s Welfare Council (Dr. H. R. Donald) at the annual meeting of the Presbyterian Social Services’ Association in Christchurch. Dr. Donald was replying to a leading article which appeared in “The Press” recently.

In the article, the need for a national authority for the care of the aged was questioned. “The need was not made at all clear at the quarterly meeting of the Christchurch Aged People's Welfare Council,” the article said. “I do not think that even ‘The Press’ will deny the advantages of the existing consultative authority or the extreme urgency in obtaining its views on many pressing problems of ageing, such as the care and housing of confused old folk,” said Dr. Donald. “Until such policies are defined, no action on a scale commensurate with their size is practicable. “The opinion of such an authority is highly desirable on the expenditure of Government funds on welfare projects. and in this capacity its decisions must be closely linked with executive action. Financial decisions of this nature must ultimately depend upon whether the projects conform or not tn accented policy, if only to prevent the repetition of schemes which have been found elsewhere to be unsound for social or economic reasons. “Is it not far preferable that important decisions of this nature should be reached by a representative committee of experts rather than by one or two whole-time departmental officers?” said Dr. Donald. There were also other stronger grounds for retaining a national executive authority. He referred to social and economic problems brought about by the present shortage of accommodation for the frail and infirm. "Much more can and should be done to assist old people to retain their independence in their own homes for as long as possible, but for many there comes a time when the provision of such assistance is no longer practicable or economic.” Dr. Donald said. ‘Tn Christchurch today, accommodation for the frail is. relatively, little more than half what was available in 1.914.”

Referring to the economic aspect. Dr. Donald said that more suitable specialised accommodation for the frail and infirm was urgently necessary if the community was to be spared unnecessary expense on institutions. “The present capital cost of providing a bed in a public hospital is £BOOO. while its upkeep tops £lOOO a year,” he said. “There are at least 80 old persons who require nothing more than simple nursing care, and who occupy such beds in Christchurch hospitals. The wrong patient in the bed is a luxury no society can afford indefinitely. Limit to Voluntary Effort

“Much more accommodation outside general hospitals is urgently needed on a scale that is quite beyond the scope of voluntary effort to provide," Dr. Donald said. “It has now been recommended that at least a proportion of this should be financed wholly by the State and administered though the local welfare councils —a solution which would be in keeping with the

expressed wishes of the pensioners themselves. There can be no question of any coercion on any particular welfare council to embark upon a scheme of which it does not approve, but equally it would not be logical for such councils to seek financial assistance for alternative and unapproved projects. “The practical side of our business is carried out entirely through our constituent organisations, of which the Nurse Maude Association, the Red Cross Society and the social services of the various churches form the backbone,” Dr. Donald said.