HOSPITALS E.P.S.

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 249, 18 July 1942, Page 8

HOSPITALS E.P.S.

Outline Of Dominion Organization TEN GROUPS ESTABLISHED The Hospitals Emergency Precautions Service has been formally constituted by an order of the Minister of National Service in pursuance of his powers under Regulation 14 of the Emergency Reserve Corps Regulations, 1941. The Dominion controller is the Director-General of Health, his organization consisting of hospital officers, group officers, the director of nursing services, and regional nursing officers. The normal powers of the DirectorGeneral of Health under the Hospitals and Charitable Institutions'Act have been strengthened by his appointment as Dominion Controller of the Hospitals E.P.S. He has a deplity (who is the Deputy Director-General of Health) and six assistant controllers, all of them officers of the department. For the purposes of mutual assistance, the 42 hospital boards have been brought into ten groups each consisting ‘.of from two to eight contiguous hospital districts. For each of these there is a group officer, who in most cases is a senior ofiicer of the largest board in the group. These groups themselves are further regrouped into four areas, two in the North Island and two in the South Island. For each such area there is a hospital officer. The hospital officers and group officers are part of the central organization. Their duties are to serve as liaison officers, between the Dominion Controller and local controllers, and to co-ordinate hospital board activities. In the preparatory stages they have to satisfy themselves that all hospital boards have made adequate provision in regard to building, staff, equipment and supplies to deal with any possible emergency, bring to the notice of the Dominion Controller any instances where there appears to be insufficient preparation; and generally advise hospital boards in their emergency schemes. In certain contingencies, particularly the isolation of any part of New Zealand, it is possible that wider powers would be delegated by the Dominion Controller to hospital and group officers. Within the hospitals E.P.S. a special section has been created to facilitate the establishment of a reserve of nursing staff. This section is under the control of the Director of Nursing Services.

Regional nursing officers are located in Auckland, Hamilton, Gisborne, New Plymouth, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. They are all nurse inspectors of the Department of Health and subject to the control and direction of the Director of Nursing Services, Their principal function is to assist in obtaining nursing staff during an emergency. They are In possession of duplicates of the rolls of all nursing personnel, including auxiliary nursing staff enrolled for duty in the event of emergency. The local administrative area of the hospitals E.P.S. is the hospital board district. For each such area the hospital board has been requested to set up ‘a hospital board emergency committee w’hich could be rapidly called together for consultation. The comittee is responsible to the Dominion Controller for the provision in an emergency of all necessary emergency hospital facilities in their area.