HOSPITAL GRANT DEFENDED

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32301, 20 May 1970, Page 18

HOSPITAL GRANT DEFENDED

(From Our Own Reporter)

WELLINGTON, May 19.

The amount allocated to the North Canterbury Hospital Board for 197071 should be sufficient to provide for a reasonable rate of growth of hospital services, the Minister of Health (Mr McKay) said in Parliament today.

He was replying to a question by Mr T. M. McGuigan; (Lab., Lyttelton), who quoted a newspaper report in which! the medical superintendent of the North Canterbury Hospital Board (Dr L. McH. Berry) said that the increase in the 1970-71 maintenance allocation for the board was insufficient to allow for the development of services provided by the board’s institu tions.

Mr McGuigan asked Mr McKay to comment on Dr Berry’s claim that unless the board could get an increase it could not expand its services and keep up with mod ern trends.

“I have read the report referred to, which included statements by Dr Berry that ‘we have been treated very I well compared with other de' partments,’ and ‘the alloca-j tion was a fair increase ini relation to the situation,’ ” Mr McKay said. “Recommendations to be on individual allocations to

hospital boards are made by the Hospital Allocations Committee, comprising two representatives of the Medical Superintendent’s Association, four from the Hospital Officers’ Association, one from the Hospital Boards’ Associa tion, and five from the De partment of Health. “Dr Berry is one of the Medical Superintendents’ Association’s representatives on the committee which made a unanimous recommendation to me on the allocations for the current year.

“The amount allocated to the North Canterbury Hos pital Board for 1970-71 is $9,924,000, which is $688,000, or 7.4 per cent, more than for the previous year. This additional sum should be sufficient to provide for a reasonable rate of growth of hospital services.”