NEED FOR A MODERN BASE HOSPITAL

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 190, 10 May 1938, Page 15

NEED FOR A MODERN BASE HOSPITAL

Community Bed Provision

ATTITUDE OF BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

“We approve of a modern base hospital properly equipped with community beds. We feel that a subsidiary hospital is a secondary problem and the building of such a hospital may relieve the shortage of beds, but would be shelving the issue,” said Dr. E. H. M. Luke, M. 8., Ch.B. (N.Z.), E.R.C.S. (Edin). E.R.A.C.S., representing the Wellington division of the British Medical Association, in evidence before the ectin mission.

“We consider that the present site of the hospital is the most suitable and convenient one in Wellington,” he said. “It faces the sun, is away from main traffic lines and yet convenient to the city. The ground is fairly level and there is a large area of surrounding land to permit of further expansion. The site is not exposed unduly to prevailing winds and is free from fog and dampness. “Speaking as a doctor practising iu this city, I must say that the lack of accommodation is of great concern to us. Patients are kept waiting weeks and even months before a bed is available for them. Their sufferings are thus prolonged and their constitutions are severely taxed. From the economic point of view, people are often prevented from working for a long period, and others are drawing compensation for weeks while a bed is being found for them. Speaking again as a local doctor, we frequently of necessity have to attend patients in their homes, when hospitalisation is definitely indicated. Crowded Conditions. “Speaking as an honorary surgeon of the hospital, I need hardly say how difficult it is to work under the crowded conditions that have existed during the last few years. The surgical wards are practically always at double capacity, ami seriously .ill cases are frequently nursed on stretchers. Beds are placed close together and extra beds or stretchers reach from the end of the ward to the doors. It is impossible to nurse and treat patients adequately under such conditions. It speaks well for the nursing staff that pur results and statistics are so good, for the nurses are definitely handicapped. “From the surgeon’s viewpoint, I must say that the theatre accommodation is inconvenient and inadequate. on the way to the theare are frequently wheeled two or three hundred yards along corridors that are extremely cold and bleak in the winter months.” Dr. Luke said centralisation was the keynote of efficiency. Centralisation as against the pavilion scheme for extension of the hospital allowed of easier working of the hospital. The provision for further convalescent homes would ease the congestion to only a moderate degree. However, the establishment of a sub-acute hospital would certainly relieve the pressure. Subsidiary Hospital Plan. “We feel that the building of a subsidiary hospital at Lower Hutt should not be considered until the base hospital in Wellington is constructed,” Dr. Luke said. “We feel that the matter is not urgent and immediate' services might be provided iu the nature of an ambulance station, a general outpatient department, and perhaps keep a dozen emergency or casualty beds.” Cross-examined by Mr. A. E. Currie, for the Crown, Dr. Luke said a community hospital was understood by medical men as one where rich and poor could go, and where the people who could afford it paid for their medical attention. There must be a certain amount of supervision of staff. They could nqt'iiave a very junior man going along and doing a very major operation. Do you suggest that nurses other than nurses on the Staff should be allowed to come in?—“ln cases where a special nurse is required.” . Replying to a question on intermediate beds, Dr. Luke said patients paid the full fee for the bed but only the intermediate fee for the doctor who was attending them. In New South Wales the intermediate fee was half the fee charged outside the hospital for an operation, for example. Question of Site. Mr. J. O'Shea, appearing for the Wellington City Corporation aud other contributing local authorities: “As to the question of the eito, is it the definite opinion of the whole of the B.M.A. that the present is the only aito for the base hospital?” Dr. Luke: We consider it is the best available site. Do you agree with Mr. Savages statement that people should be treated .as much as possible in their own homes? — “Where conditions are satisghetory,” Yotl want the best possible accommodation?—“Yes. We want the best place to treat the people to the beat of our ability and the best conditions.” Do you know of any cases where harm has been done wheeling patients along the corridors? —"That would be a very difficult question to answer.” Do you consider the industrial development of the Hutt Valley' will continue? “I thinw it natural that that development will continue.” , . , , Were you consulted as to the internal details of the proposed new building?— “The plans were submitted to the honorary staff end the various points discussIs there any intention of establishing a medical school in Wellington, and if so do you think it desirable to have more than one medical school in New Zealand? It is suggested that there should be a 20 per cent, surplus of beds. Is there not a tendency, if there is a surplus of beds, tor those beds to be filled?—“l do not think anybody has had any experience ol that. Have you considered the cost of the scheme? —“As ratepayers we all have.