No reply from anaesthetists

Press, 14 September 1976, Page 2

No reply from anaesthetists

The North Canterburyj Hospital Board has still had no success in its request for: anaesthetists from the: United Kingdom. j The institutions committee; was told yesterday that a re-i port on progress to date had) been requested from the) British agency which would) recruit the staff. Dr L. McH. Berry, the' medical superintendent-in- • chief, said he was “pessimis-1 tic” about the board’s! chances to attract people! from overseas. The situation was getting rapidly worse, he said. Specialists in their first year in Australia were receiving higher salaries than the top 12 specialists in New Zealand The board had lost about 40 house surgeons to'

I Australia in their second •year. The committee accepted the recommendation of Dr Berry that the Department |of Health be notified of the • “serious situation” con(cerning salaries and conditions of employment in New Zealand as compared with Australia. ; A preliminary survey among hospital patients to ascertain how many are not • receiving treatment between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. has been completed. The investigation; •will be continued. Dr Berry had told an earlier meeting that there might be patients who received treatment during the day and used the hospital as a hotel at night. These people could become day patients, and did not need to occupy! beds.

I The preliminary survey showed a surprising number I of patients who did not have • treatment at night, he said. There were, however, • some who needed to remain in hospital for other reasons. One such person was an arthritic, who had difficulty getting to and from home. Dr Berry said he felt there was enough evidence, and the numbers were great enough, to look into this more deeply. The medical superintenident of Christchurch Hospital (Dr R. A- Fairgray) suggested the survey be repeated for longer, perhaps one week, at Christchurch ' Hospital. It was well worth . doing, he said. Dr W. J. Pryor commented on the amount of time it {would take to do a further 'survey and to take action on

Ithe findings. The initial suggestion for the survey had been that patients might be able to do more for themselves to save staff, he said. Dr Fairgray said the survey would have to be done by nursing staff and he felt, they could not easily be taken from other work/ Mrs M. McG. Clark said this suggested that the appointment of a person who could take a comprehensive look at facilities to see where labour savings could be made, should be looked at seriously. In a letter from the Department of Health, the committee was told that an overseas expert to investigate cardiac facilities in New Zealand had been chosen and references obtained. It was hoped he would visit New Zealand soon.