OUR NURSES ABROAD

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2888, 28 September 1916, Page 3

OUR NURSES ABROAD

WHERE THEY ARE POSTED. The Minister of Public Health (the Hon. G. W. Russell) has received from New Zealand Medical Corps Hcad- . quarters in England a statement showing how the nurses of tho Now Zealand Army Nursing Service serving nbrand are distributed. On August 10 lust the nurses were placed as follow: — N.Z. General Hospital, No. 1, .Brockenhurst, 58 N.Z. General Hospital, No. 2, Walton-on-Thames 30 No.' 1 Stationary Hospital, Franco 27 "Aotea" Convalescent} Homo, Heliopolis • 3 Hospital Ship Maheno 14 Hospital Ship Marama .' > 20 Sick in England 2 Returned to N.Z. on duty 23 Returned to'N.Z., side 14 Awaiting duty, in England 8 Total under N.Z. Command .. 204 British hospitals in Egypt 4!) British Hospital Ships 52 British Hospitals in England 5 Total under British Command 106 Including those . Jost on the Marquette 11 nurses have died, and tho location of 34 was uot known at New Zealand Headquarters. Possibly they werp those on the first commission of the Maheno and with the Australian' A.N.S. Tho 'grand total of nurses on activo service is 357. Tho total number of Now Zealand nurses now available in. England is 8, while the number required is Si. Tho Staff had not yet boon appointed to the No. 3 New Zealand Hospital at Codford (350 beds), but the full staff will number 14. Also at the Now Zealand Convalescent Home'at Hornohurch (1040 beds) no appointments had yet been made, but the full staff of nurses will bo 12. It was proposed that existing vacancies should bo filled from tho drafts arriving with reinforcements from New Zealand, and also by enrolling New Zealand nurses now serving with the British when their contracts with the War Office expired. Tho position on tho arrival of the D.D.M.S. in England was that 61. of tho New Zealand nurses had arrived by the Mahono under arrangement of tho War Offico with Headquartors, and five others wider' tho Matron-in-Chief, Egypt, had also been sent to England. Or this number 24 had been posted to Walton Hospital by consent of tho Matron-in-Chief'at the War Offico. She had also agreed to transfer 27 to duty with' tho New Zealand Expeditionary Force, but owing to serious shortage declined to release tho five additional nurses until tho completion of their contracts with tho Imperial service. To enable tho staffs to .bo completed, however, tho Matron-in-Chief had complied with tho icquest of the D.D.M.S., and had ordored 30 New Zealand mvrses to bo released from British hospitals in Egypt, and from hospital, ships. With this number availablo ho would bo ablo to provide working staffs of qualified nurses for all New Zealand hospitals. The D.D.M.S. pointed out that it would not be necessary to add to the roll of Now Zealand Army Nursing Service nurses to meet requirements, if thoso in British hospitals and hospital ships wero available, but the Matron-in-Chief declined to release them until their contracts with tho War Offico expired.