PROFESSOR DEFENDS HOSPITAL AUTONOMY

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30602, 19 November 1964, Page 15

PROFESSOR DEFENDS HOSPITAL AUTONOMY

(New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND, Nov. 17. A considerable degree of autonomy must be granted in hospital administration, said Professor R. Griffith, professor of hospital administration at New South Wales University, last evening when speaking on hospital regionalism to members of the Auckland Hospital Board and the Hospital Officers’ Association. “Civil servants cannot be concerned with the day-to-day running of hospitals,” he said. “They must be concerned with major over-all planning and the strategic placing of hospitals.”

In Britain there was the maximum degree of autonomy commensurate with the enormous sums of Government money being spent. Professor Griffith said he

was convinced hospital services could not be administered by close central control. “The smaller the country and the population, the greater is likely to be central control,” he said. “I’m quite sure in New Zealand you are subject to more control from the Health Department than is exercised by the Ministry of Health in England—l see from your applause that I am right.” In Britain a happy compromise between undue regional control and undue local autonomy had been achieved. Individual hospitals could not be allowed to decide to make major service extensions and capital expenditure or overall regional planning for distribution of services would be lost.