THE SICK AND NEEDY

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 95, 19 October 1910, Page 10

THE SICK AND NEEDY

HOSPITAL AND CHARITABLE AID ANNUAL REPORT. i " On the wholt the past year has been a satisfactory one. Hospital expenditure has only increased by £837. For this can be shown the upkeep "of three new hospitals, and ' an average increase in the number of patients under daily treatment. The cost of charitable aid has increased only by £15, and there has been a reduction in the total cost of institutional management, though the daily average number of inmates accommodated has increased. The new Act is working well, and there is every reason for believing "that it is an improvement on the old law. The personnel of the new boards is good, aojl the members are disposed to work harmoniously with the department." In this concise fashion the InspectorGeneral of Hospitals (Dr. Valintine) opens his annual report presented to Pai'liamenfc last evening. Here ar« some of the- statistical facts (which he gives in tabloid form) covering the year's working :—: — Roughly, one-third of our hospital receipts are derived from the rates, onethird from th« Consolidated Fund, and one-third from voluntary contributions, patients' payments, and other sources of revenue. The increase of £6177 in patients* payments is satisfactory, but one may reasonably look for a' considerable increase under this item, which now only amounts to about one-seventh of the total expenditure. ' There is a falling-off of £2549 in subscriptions and donations, but the total voluntary contributions (£20,833), including bequests, show an increase over the previous year of £3723. The cost to the taxpayer, as represented by the total contributions from the Government and the local authorities, is less by £2868 than the previous year. After criticising the expenditure at length', the Inspector says that there are 2689 beds in our public hospitals, and that 21,108 patients were treated in those beds last year. The average mortality was 7.7 per cent, and the average stay in the hospital thirty-five days per patient. Patients cost 5s 7d a day to be treated. Last year the cost was 6s o^d; the year before that 7s Ofd. The average daily payments by patients was Is 2d ; therefore the average patient costs the taxpayer 4s 5d per diem. The gross cost of hospitals is 4s lO^d per head of population, of charitable aid 2s 3£d — altogether 7s lfd — as against Is 4£d last year. There were 882 trained nurses on the n-egister last year and 662 nurses in the public service — viz., . trained, 210 ; untrained, 452. ■ • There is one nurs© to ever 2.6 beds in our public hospitals. There were 112 trained jrurses registered last year. Eighty-nine of these were trained in the Dominion, and 23 -were registered on oversea certificates. The names of 1028 midwives are on the register — viz., trained, 283; untrained, 745. Last year 74 trained midwives were registered — viz., trained in St. Helens Hospitals, 42 ; trained in other maternity homes, 10 ; admitted on oversea certificates, 22. There are nine training schools for midwives in the Dominion, and 883 patients were treated in St. Helens Hospitals last year. There were 4 deaths, 829 babies were born alive, 13 were stillborn, 4 "babies died. Three hundred and fifty-three mothers were treated by St. Helens nurses as out-patients. There was 1 death, 339 babies were born alive, 13 babies were stillborn, 4 babies died. Each baby borr in the- St. Helens Hospitals costs the country about £2. As to the charitable aid institutions, he says that on the whole they are wellmanaged, but that, though during the pas€ year there has been a decrease in the expenditure on the institutions in j question, there is still room for more economy. "The country can afford to feed th& inmates well, but, as is the case with some hospitals, there is unnecessary waste, if not something worse, in the management." Dr. Valintine makes a reference to the working of the new Act, points out its leading features, and says that the new boards have settled down, to their work with a good deal of zeal. The Inspector sketches certain subjects which should engage the attention of boards during the coming year. Briefly, these may be enumerated as follows : — The acutely sick, including : (1) The sick infant; (2) the mentally defective (awaiting examination) ; (3) the delirium tremens patient ; (4) the venereal patient. The chronic and incurable. The "infectious" patient. The consumptive : (1) Curable ; (2) incurable. A- special branch of the outpatient department might be devoted to encouraging persons in the pre-phtfhisical stages to seek advice. Such measures, combined with a system of district nursing, might do good work in the fight against this disease. The maternity patient: (1) By outside medical attendance ; (2) by district (midwife) nurses; (3) by maternity wards at•tached to certain hospitals. The aged needy and treatment of the out-patient, by means of a special department attached to the hospital in coni junction with a system of district nursI ing A district nurse in touch with an out-patient department could do great work in visiting those persons who are I receiving treatment as out-patients, or who have recently been discharged from the hospital, in seeing that they are con- | forming to the treatment prescribed, and that they are living under sa&itarv conditions. Such a district nurse would also visit those cases of measles and whooping cough which are necessarily excluded from the hospitals, and advise mothers as to the feeding of their children and the general hygiene of their home. She would also advise the board on many other matters relating to the circumstances of those receiving treatment or relief. The Inspector concludes by stating that it should be the aim of all boards to co-operate with private societies, •with a view to preventing the overlapping j that is now going on. A great deal could be done in this direction if those concerned would but approach the r matter in an impartial spirit, and waive all local or sectarian prejudices. A number of private philanthropic societies are doing good work in~the country, but, as they are not in touch with each other — indeed, some are working in open antagonism— -nor with the Hospital Boards, many undeserving persons are receiving relief which would not be given if there were some system of organisation. It would be quite proper for tho ! ooards to give pecuniary assistance to those private societies which are doing good work that would otherwise have to bo undertaken by the boards, and by giving such assistance the Goveinment subsidies would bo given automatically. The boards could alloiv societies thus subsidised to manage their own affairs, either as co-operative members of committees that boards are entitled to set up, or altogether free of the boardb, provided the latter wore made aware as to

the exact ground each society was covering, so that executive officers could work in unison. It is hoped that the ensuing year will see some dogged efforts made in this direction.