Call for more home care

Press, 17 September 1976, Page 10

Call for more home care

Up to 40 per cent of hos-| pital patients could be cared; for just as efficiently ini their own homes according! to Dr N. F. Greenslade,; 0.8. E., at the annual general* meeting of the Nurse Maude' Association . Dr Greensalde, who is! chairman of the New Zea-; land Medical Council, said; that the Nurse Maude Association had been a leader in the field of domiciliary care; and it would be called on to| provide more and more of ! this care in the future. ; The recent workshop onj imedical manpower in New; Zealand, held by the Health Department and the medical profession, had concluded that the medical system ini the country was working but was suffering from a chronic! shortage of doctors and hospital beds. The shortage of doctors; would not be solved by es-j tablishing a third medical; school. When the two medi-; cal schools and two clinical! schools were training their'; full quota in four years time; there would be enough doc-i tors to go round. Dr Greenslade suggested! that by keeping patients at home many of the present! problems related to doctor; and bed shortages could be! alleviated. “The family doctor can do! so very much more than he!

! could 20 or 30 years ago be- | cause of advances in mediIcine such as antibiotics and ; I because of lhe support which is now available from 11 district nursing services, mei dico-social services, home I aid services, laundry seri;vices, meals on wheels, and i other voluntary agencies.” • said Dr Greenslade ! “There is no reason why domiciliary services can’t rej Sieve hospitals and take 'people who don’t need to be in hospital.” Keeping patients in the jhome resulted in saving a ! great deal of mone.t, considi ering that the capital cost of [ one hospital bed was now ;!$50,000, and $7O a day to i-run it. Home care also coincided J with the patients’ wishes because all people liked to stay at home when sick. Dr Greenslade said that j the State was now realising the importance of subsidising voluntary organisations 'which helped to keep people ; out of hospitals. And the Nurse Maude Association ihad often been quoted as an i example of the ideal partnership between the State '(and the volunteer. ■ The retirement was anInounced of Mrs E. Mazins Iwho has been matron of ' Averill House for 12 vears jand has given a total of 15 > I years service to the association.