Responding to treatment

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33189, 31 March 1973, Page 14

Responding to treatment

The North Canterbury Hospital Board may take some pride in the fact that it has been able to halve the waiting lists for treatment in its institutions in the last four years. There are now 3757 patients waiting for treatment compared with twice that number four years ago. During those four years the population of the board s area has grown—and so has the number of road accidents, which constantly deny hospital beds and services to so manv prospective patients. Nevertheless, the list of more than 3700 is discouraging for those waiting for *’ non-urgent ” treatment. Many of these prospective patients need only minor treatment: but many others have to suffer uncomfortable or painful conditions for far too long in spite of efforts to give priority to the more urgent cases Their admission to hospital, and the eventual relief of their suffering, is delayed by the motorists ’■ hose inattention or recklessness leads to accidents. The injured motorists suffer, of course: but how many of them give a thought to those other sufferers who have been deprived of hospital treatment because of the ur°encv accorded the treatment of road casualties’ The hospital waiting lists are at least partlv attributable to road accidents—a hidden but nevertheless real cost to the community. Understandable hospital board members seek more Government action to reduce the rate of road a< idents but they would be wrong to place any great reliance on that remedy. The road toll has so far shown no sign of responding to treatment. In the absence of any miracle cure, the board must persevere with the methods to which the waiting lists have now been shown to respond.