Queen Mary Hospital

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32810, 10 January 1972, Page 10

Queen Mary Hospital

Sir,—Alcoholism is a selfinflicted wound, usually acquired by bludging someone else’s grog. If one wanted a cheap holiday in the peaceful surroundings at Hanmer as described by “Quo Usque Tandem” and at the taxpayer’s expense, become an alcoholic and the rest is easy. Your correspondent is using alcoholism purely for political purposes. The fact that a bed at Queen Mary Hospital costs approximately four times as much taxpayers’ money as a bed at any other hospital, and the fact that medical men are no longer prepared to set aside a life time of helping the genuinely sick, apparently mean nothing more to “Quo Usque Tandem” than trying a political trick. New Zealanders gave up being taken in by this sort of thing during 1957 to 1960. If your correspondent really wanted to press a worth-while cause, why not recommend that Queen Mary Hospital be converted to a home for the aged or alternatively urge the Government to dispose of it and use the proceeds to provide homes for the aged in Canterbury.— Yours, etc., NOT FOOLED. January 7, 1972.