AUCKLAND HOSPITAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 56, 29 November 1907, Page 3

AUCKLAND HOSPITAL.

•;-. • . . 4 PROGRESSIVE POLICY. ..INSTRUCTIVE FACTS AND FIGURES. '■■'_ (or tei,egrami—sneur, correspondent.) '• ■'■ ■ Auckland, November 27. At a special meeting of the City Council tp-day to elect members 'of the Hospital Board, a resolution was adopted supporting the Board in its recent policy of expenditure which has aroused cries of extravagance in other. quarters. An important discussion -preceded tho carrying of tho resolution. • ; '■; THE MAYOR'S STATEMENT. 'The Mayor (Mr. A. M. Myers) said that ■having' rocontly visited tho hospital buildings; he considered that the policy laid down by : the' Board to , modernise tl'lo hospital 'buildings was fully justified, and that they would not have done their duty as reprosontatives of the local bodies hiid thoy not instituted . the progressive policy' now being .earrje'd -out. He was surprised that this forward'movement was not made a considerable .time'ago. It was fair to. state ' that, the present progressive policy was instituted by tile, late Chairman of the Board, Mr. John MLcod. (Applause.) That policy had'been followed by the present Board. Anyone'who saw the amount of work done for the.money .'spoilt' at the hospital buildings would have uo'.;hesitation in concluding that-the expenditure ..had been in the right direction. Whet,'hor the late lor the present Board had .gone about the institution of this policy in a; business-like manner "or riot,, he was not jri' apposition to state: The/Chairman of the Board (Mr. L. J. Bagnall) was one of the best business men in tho city. Tho Mayor then quoted figures to show that the total maintenance cost of tho hospital from 1902 to-,1006 was £15,137, as Compared with ~£16,295. for the years 1906-7.' The average ■cost' per head of patients for/the four years >as 45.'.11 d., but for last year 4s. 3J<l- Tho ■aVerago daily patients for the four years •wa's : .l<2, and for last year/184. . The average ideaths for the four years was 193, and for ■hist'year 189, and,tho percentage of deaths t ; o'v.patients was 10 per cent, for the four years, .and. B}' per cent, for. last year. Those h'guros showed that .things were being con'ducted'jn a satisfactory manner. He understood; that tho policy adopted by the Board fvasvirtuallylaid down by.the late Inspector/Go.neral.' Unfortunately, there were people In;,the city who did not see that a progressive; policy was the strictest economy. People, objected to the expenditure of .the Council .the public conveniences, but no one ,wpuld say.so* now that thoy were completed. Often r.the extra expenso entailed at first by ■ii'progressive policy was recouped by saving .oKeiponditure later on. Tho decision, of the >J}.par,d' to modernise the present hospital •buildings was fully justified. It was a quos.tloh/of. saving life, and to do so the lion--.'pr^ry''medical staff should have every facility afforded them. It was only right when men .devoted their time to-a work that a wrong .impression should not be. allowed to get abroad." < '■mH FOUR YEARS' WORK. -Mr; Bagnall said it was now four years 'siiicie ho was elected to the Board. At that ■'tiijie'thc position of tho hospital was very 'unsatisfactory. Thore wero difficulties hc;twecn the. staff and the medical man. in .charge. . Things got to such a pass that a Royal Commission was set up which referred to-the hospital as being far from sanitary. As. a- result' qf its report a building com''mitteo was set up, composed of five members of the. Board, and five of the honorary medi-cal-staff., At that time there was no proper ■operating theatre. The trouble was'to get ■a.'satisfactory scheme, and a good deal of .time': was spent upon the matter by the committee. ' The scheme adopted was'to modern"i.ed!.:j;hp. building and improve tho sanitary ■arrangements. At that time thcro was no /proper provision for treating minor infectious diseases. Some.of tho expenditure had been objected to, but he contended that the :>oyisioii for a lavatory .would be satisfactory for many' years to come, out it involved £5000, which was not contemplated in the ■original scheme. Tho.ro wore in the hospitala number of incurables for whom the Board 'had no room, but who could hot he turned 'put into the street. A ward for incurables ■■wns therefore erected, and would shortly bo opened by the Minister for Public Health. ,This cost £4700, and was an addition to the original , scheme'; but both of these were absolutely necessary'.' . ■'■'.Mr. ■; Allsopp was appointed architect;, and had proved himself a fit man for the work. He visited the Commonwealth at .his" own • expense to study the hospitals tliero, and he. had also paid special attention to this branch before leaving England. He ■had incorporated modern features in his plans:' The question of extravagance had narrowed itself to one point, and that was '.that;the architect considered that the walls should be tiled. Ho had found this in every nvpdern/hospital,, and the foature was introduced into the infirmary ward at the Costley Home./Jihis was what had caused tho trouble, and had brought forth an advorsc roport from the committee. , He had not tho slightest;'hesitation in-saying that this was the best 'system: It was in every way the proper 'ancT economical thing to do. -. '-•'..'" v A'DOCTOR'S OPINION. v.Dr. Stqpfofd said he had been to view the' hospital, and was firmly persuaded that the policy pursued by the Board was correct. Asj'jthe policy was laid down on definite lines ■itjsyas a safe one, although it would .be expensive.. .The lower death rate of last year showed, the result of the. good work done. The; conditions -under which that hospital had;: .'been • worked had been a disgrace to any/city. Those conditions wero being remedied, : ;arid the Board was correct in-under-taking- a . large expenditure to remedy tho stateiqf affairs which had existed previously. Tl>c : basement of the building still required' attention. . The staff had.been forced to live in ; .plndcs not fit for human habitation. He thought • that within a short time, tho hospital would bain a condition, equal to a city like Auckland. Ho considered, however,' ' that : tho operating theatre, was a waste of money; At present thcrci were nine washbasins ■ close to it. True, they were all trapped, but if there was a fault in any one •trap it mip;ht prove.'fatal in abdominal operations. He could have produced a better operating .theatre from wood; n,iid glass than tlieV biio at ( the hospital, and' at one-tliird the cost: ' Tl/at theatre was built under a previous Board. If. tho scheme propounded by' th(t present Board was'carried out it would .he a groat blessing. ' ■ :....? ■ ";\ ;;' : • the. other side. '/. Mr. G. Knight said they .were-all anxious that, the-:- hospital should -be : properly .fitted for its work. They were forced to build the infectious, ward, but- it was.over six months' overtime, which caused great inconvenience. Tlie"cottage for plague enses, which was to have been built in a few days at the cost of,- 1 .about £300, was not finished .■ for three 'month's, and cost £1500. Tho completion of the Costley Ward was also delayed. . The committee wanted works completed within the ./proper contract time. The sanitary tptfers:' were also over-time many .months, the committee wanted to get £1000 work for that expenditure, and not- to. allow things to .drift; ,'He also considered that the laundry cost.too much. The chief of the Health Depajttnioni, had stated that the elaborateness of.lthe- plans, submitted was not necessary. The., committee objected to .£SOOO being spent wliei'o £3500 would give equally satisfactory results. The drift of the last twelve month's wiiji;not sound business. All membors of tho Board--wanted the policy carried out, but Wftiited full value for the expenditure; He wanted to see the hospital fully modernised, tho > electric light installed, and tho atmosphere ' perfectly pure, but ho did not want thiiigs'tobo allowed to drift. - j Sir. Bagnall said the delays, while unfortunate,, were not the fault of the Board. Tiip' observation cottage was an absolute necessity. Mr. Farrell said he had hoped that tho prosperous state of New Zealand would enahlqthe Chajrman to say that so much would not'"be' , required for charitable aid, but all they had was a discussion regarding tho hospital'alono. , : '■•■••'■ RESOLUTIONS. • The Mayor then moved " that tho Council is of opinion that the progressive and wellconsidored policy instituted by the Auckland Hospital and Charitahlo Aid Board in providing more modern and efficient buildings and equipment for tho relief of the sick and nqedy jn our midst is in the right direction, and. should be endorsed by all those having the! interest of tho distressed at heart." This was seconded by Mr. Tudehope, and carried,