Board’s concern about lack of services

Press, 28 October 1982, Page 6

Board’s concern about lack of services

'Underspending of $200,000 by. the North Canterbury Hospital Board on community. health services was of considerable concern when domiciliary services' run by the Nurse Maude District Nursing Association were suffering from lack of funding. Mrs J. M. Waters told board members yesterday. iMrs Waters is the Hospital Board’s representative on the board of the Nurse Maude District Nursing Association. -‘‘There is a great need for more nurses and home aids at-Nurse Maude,” she said. “Home aids, especially are needed. I heard that one Woman discharged early from Christchurch Women's Hospital was unable to get a home aid from Nurse Maude

because there were simply none available. “They are doing us a service by enabling us to relieve the pressure at Christchurch Women’s Hospital, by looking after mothers discharged early," she said.’ As long as there are no complications women who want to leave Christchurch Women's Hospital soon after having their babies are encouraged to do so. and a Nurse Maude domicilary nurse or home aid is then contracted to visit them at home. The board's medical super-intendent-in-chief, Dr R. A. Fairgray, said that most of the savings in the community health and domicilary services budget were from

vacant staffing positions that the board had not been able to fill.

These positions included an adviser on mental health and a psychiatrist for the Child and Family Guidance Centre, among others, he said.

Mr T. M. McGuigan said that perhaps the board was unable to fill the vacancies because the salaries and conditions of employment were not good enough for the highly qualified people the board hoped to attract.

“Highly qualified people who may be interested in working in community health care will be deterred if the salary scales are lower than elsewhere," he said.