PATIENTS' FEES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 15, 19 January 1910, Page 7

PATIENTS' FEES.

j HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATION. i IS THERE EXTRAVAGANCE OR LAXITY ? The matron of the. Otaki Hospital, in her report to the District Hospital Board to-day, notified that patients' fees for the preceding month amounted to £41 ss. The item generated some discussion on hospital administration-gener-ally, Mr. J. N. Gardener, who represents Horowhenua on the board, making a strong indictment of the present system. Commenting on the report and the above item in particular, the chairman of the board (j\lr. J. P. Luke) asked that it should be an instruction to the secretary to prepare for the board's next meeting a detailed statement of the means of the vai'ious patients, the arrears, and, as suggested later by Mr. G. Frost, an account of the board's assets. The chairman pointed out the considerable difficulty experienced in getting the money in. The secretary had been instructed to exercise his full powers in collecting fees, and in every case patients or their guarantors had been billed. Many in the sanatorium were unable to find the necessary payments : this was one phase of the country's * policy of hospital administration, and to a great extent an unavoidable one. The contrast between the cost of inmates at the hospital — where the diet was plain and j the medical expenses small — and the sanatorium, where the average cost per patient per week was nearly 30s, was stressed by the speaker. Discrimination, so far as was possible and profitable, had been practised. The interests of the residents of the district — and the subscribers — were well safeguarded; outsiders were never allowed to exploit local interests. A financial statement, covering the whole of the board's operations, would be prepared before the board handed over its functions to the new board. Mr. Luke paid a tribute to the patients who had recognised and liquidated their liabilities. A STRONG INDICTMENT. The Horowhenua representative, Mr. J. N. Gardener, was not surprised with the announcement re patients payments. ,He believed there had been a leakage or a laxity in the collection of fees. He advocated that aßj patients leaving the institution should "be traced : it should not be enough for each inmate to state that he or she could not pay. There was a kind of conspiracy among hospital patients in the matter of evading payments. It was, he ayerred, a topic of j general conversation in the wards. Fully 60 per cent, of persons who received treatment were, in his opinion, j able to pay for the same. The speaker made comparisons between Wellington and Auckland in regard to receipts, expenditure, and so on, in favoju: of the northern city ; where, he 'stated, the length of stay of each patient averaged a day longer than in Wellington. The whole administration required reorganisation. The new Act came in for the speaker's criticism, and, too, the constitution of the board. No good would come about, said Mr. Gardener, until members of boards were paid for their services : honorary members were not a success. The present system of hospital administration was far too expensive, and the people were required to give too much. Either there was waste in the management or the population was becoming more pauperised. WANTED— A BOARD OF EXPERTS. Mr. C. J. Crawford had something to say on the recent criticism directed through the press on hospital management. The boards, he thought, had taken the press remarks in a personal sense, when they had only been directed against tne system. He was a strong believer in experts and highly paid officers for' these things, and he suggested that when the new board was constituted it should obtain the advice of the Inspector-General of Hospitals (Dr. Valintine), and not go in for cheap administration. The new body should employ the best men and pay them salaries commensurate with their responsibilities. The best organisation was essential for the success of hospital administration. He did not agree with the previous speaker that members 6hould be paid ; the money should pro towards better administration. Mr. G. Frost agreed with Mr. Crawford. The want of professional men for the work canied out by the board was an urgent one. PRAISE FOR THE NEW ACT. Mr. Luke pointed out that most of, the patients at present in the hospital were from the district represented by Mr. Gardener. As one who had had a great deal of experience in these matters, he considered that the new Act would work a great improvement. It would bring about the much-needed amalgamation of the social and the hospital work — charitable aid and general hospital attendance — and would mean a more efficient and a cheaper administration. The Act was also commended by Mr. J. J. Devine, who thought that under its regime the present anomalies would disappear.