TOO MANY VISITORS

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 4, 29 September 1944, Page 6

TOO MANY VISITORS

Threat To Lock Doors At Hospital The public was exploiting the board’s weakness of staff and Sunday visiting hours at the Wellington hospital were for a large number a parade of idle and perhaps morbid curiosity, said the chairman, Mr. H. F. Toogood, at last night’s meeting of the Wellington Hospital Board. “It will come to this, that we will have to lock the doors,” he said. “We have that right and no one would suffer if there were no visitors.” Mr. W. $. Cederholni: Question I Dlrs. Knox Gilmer referred to the case of a man who had had 15 visitors in one afternoon and who had asked for protection for other patients. Miss B. Cable said that the giving of two discs to relatives and the charging of other visitors at the rate of (id. a head as at tbe Prince Albert Hospital, Melbourne, would keep busybodies away. Mr. W. Toomath said that the medical superintendent at the Hutt hospital had advertised that only two visitors for each patient would be admitted and this scheme had worked smoothly. The superin tendent-in-cliief. Dr. J. Cairncy, said the problem of controlling visitors was entirely one of staff.