Drinks in hospital

Press, 10 March 1984, Page 16

Drinks in hospital

Sir,—The recent correspondence has recalled a well-beloved uncle who always maintained that there was nothing that a good ale could not fix. “Good for what’s wrong with you,” was a toast that promoted wellbeing and a sense of optimistic good spirits. So I applaud the practice of serving drinks at the Southern Cross Hospital. Modern medical developments have overlooked the need to enjoy bad health; and I look forward to the time when I am invited to use prescribed medication with equal parts of water as required.—Yours, etc., KEN NICHOL. March 8, 1984. Sir,—Pity the poor hospital patient if Ray Spring (“The Press,” March 9) and the other do-gooders in the New Zealand Temperance Alliance are ever taken seriously by the public. It appears that they wish further to alienate the hospital patient from the outside world. Many patients are tied to their hospital beds for long periods. Surely if an adult patient wants a cool beer or light wine with his meal, and if attendant medical staff approve the consumption as non-detrimental to his condition, he should be free to have it.—Yours, etc.,

M. G. DOLLIMORE. March 9,