OVERCROWDING AT HOSPITAL
Position “Never More Acute”
“At the moment, there are 642 patients in a 560-bed hospital, and it has never been so full since it was built,” said the medical superintendent of the Christchurch Public Hospital, Dr. T. Morton, yesterday. Eighty patients were accommodated on stretchers in the wards, and 18 beds had had to be brought from the Cashmere Sanatorium to cope with the overcrowding, Dr. Morton- said. The position had never been more acute.
Dr. Morton said that he was unable to say just how many persons had been admitted recently suffering from types of influenza and pneumonia, although many such cases were elderly persons. At present, 60 of the hospital’s nursing staff, ranging from ward sisters to probationer nurses, are off duty with colds and influenza and other respiratory infections. The nursing staff is having to carry duty as best it can.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19570829.2.42
Bibliographic details
Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28368, 29 August 1957, Page 7
Word Count
147OVERCROWDING AT HOSPITAL Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28368, 29 August 1957, Page 7
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.