Infant Health Inquiry Evidence Of Plunket Society’s Finances

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28935, 1 July 1959, Page 16

Infant Health Inquiry Evidence Of Plunket Society’s Finances

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, June 30. The Plunket Society wished to dispel the idea that it was a wealthy body, and that it had large sums to use for its day-to-day operations, Mr J. B. Cook, on behalf of the society, told the consultative committee on pre-school health services, today. He said the society could not but help having large assets, because of its Karitane hospitals and special donations, but it had little money readily available to use, even in theory, for running the society.

Mr Cook called an accountant. Mr, T. A. Scoular, of Dunedin, who quoted the society’s total funds as £1.053,609, but said that working capital amounted only to £188,743. Fixed assets totalled £581,645, ■ and investment of special funds £280,023. Contributions last year to the maintenance of the society totalled £349,909 comprising £130,685 from Government grants and subsidies, £44.011 from Social Security benefits, and £175,213 from public support.

Mr Scoular said he understood the society would make a submission that Social Security benefits payable to patients of Karitane hospitals be raised from 13s 6d a day to 20s 6d a day, the rate applicable to private hospitals. That increase in the Social Security rate would have turned the Karitane hospitals’ working deficit of £15,559 in 1958-59 into a surplus of £7687, he said. The deficit last' year was in spite of the Government grant of £1 for every £1 10s of voluntary contributions, and £3OOO towards the nurses’ training school at the Dunedin Karitane Hospital During the year, a special emergency grant of £23,000 was made by the Government towards the past deficit of Karitane hospitals, but this was not shown in the hospitals’ accounts, he said

Need For Funds Miss K. P. Rapps, the Plunket Society’s Dominion secretary and treasurer, said a good deal of publicity had been given to the statement of the Deputy DirectorGeneral (Administrative) of the Health Department (Mr D A. Hunn) • that the society was a “pretty wealthy body.” It appeared that in making this statement, Mr Hunn was looking solely to the amount of funds and not to the volume of activity they supported, said Miss Rapps. The special funds the society held were essential for its future well-being. Many of these rep-

resented the savings of individual committees toward securing Plunket rooms and the replacement of cars.

Giving evidence on Social Security benefits paid for patients in Karitane hospitals, Miss Rapps said the society wished to stress that these were payments for hospital services to which every New Zealand citizen was entitled. Social Security payments were only a discharge of a public obligation, and to show them as a part of subsidies and grants to the society gave a false impression.

When considering grants made to the society in its early days, compared with today, the total Government expenditure on health should be borne in mind, she said. In 1913, when the society received £650, the total health vote was £145,000. Today, it was £42.5 million.

Referring to the Health Department statement showing that grants and subsidies to the society since its inception totalled nearly £2 million, Miss Rapps said she doubted whether any Government department for such an expenditure over 50 years had obtained such a good return.