HOSPITAL BOARD.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 95, 19 October 1910, Page 3

HOSPITAL BOARD.

CHARITABLE AID MATTERS. COMMITTEE'S REPORTS. The monthly meeting of the Wellington Hospital and Charitable Aid Board was held yesterday afternoon, there being present: —Messrs. J. G. W. Aitken (chairman), D. Robertson, J. E. Fitz- j gerald. Galloway, J. Smith. A. H. Hindmarsh, G. London, H. Baldwin, D. M'Laren. J. Godber. B. R. Gardener, F. T. Moore, li. C. Kirk, G. Nash, W. Tompsitl. Key. W. A. Evans, Miss Richmond, Dr. Yalintine (Inspector-General of Hospitals). Tenders for milk supply and for furnishing the Infectious Diseases Hospital were opened and referred to a committee with power to accept the lowest if in, order. WELLINGTON- HOSPITAL. The Hospital Committee reported as follows: — "Thai the matron and such nurses in the hospital as so desire, he allowed to accept appointments in the New Zealand Corps Nursing Reserve, pro\ iding the use" of their services would not at Any time cripple the working of the institution. That the new Infectious Diseases Hospital be duly handed over to the committee by the contractors (Messrs: Hunt and M'Donald) ; that the City Council be approached with a view to having a tram-stopping place provided, opposite the hospital main gates in Revans-street ; that monthly accounts amounting to £1544 9s 7d be recommended for payment ; that patients' fees accounts, amounting to £604 8s 6d, be written off. OTAKI HOSPITAL. As to the Otaki Hospital the committee reported that on 30th September there were in the hospital 10 males and two females. In regard to the Sanatorium five patients ha-d been admitted and five discharged during the month f on 30th September there were in the institution 12 males and 13 females, and those discharged, three, were "much improved," one "somewhat improved," and one "no improvement." The report was adopted. ' IN-PATIENTS' FEES. The committee also furnished a return ol in-patients' fees received for the six months ended 30th September, 1909 and 1910. The total for the last half-year was £1622 Is lid, as compared with £1448 for the corresponding period of 1909 CHARITABLE AID. The Charitable Aid Committee recommended : — That, in view of the circumstances brought before the committee, the salary of Mr. Roberts, the head overseer of the Ohiro Home, be ' increased from £7 to £8 6s 8d per month as from the Ist October ; that the thanks of the board be conveyed to the Petono Borough CounciL, the Lower Hutt Borough Council, the Onslow Borough Council, the Hutt County Council and the Makara County Council for their assistance in carrying on the administration of Charitable Aid from Ist April to Ist August ; that the following be appointed additional members of the Horowhenua Subdistrict Committee for the purpose of providing immediate temporary relief to necessitous persons on the "lines laid down by the committee : — Mr. George Watson (Waikanae), Mr. Henry Windley (Te Horo) ; Mr. H. Freeman (Otaki) ; Mr. John M'Leavey ' (Ohau) j the town clerk (Levin) ; Mr. Richards (Levin outdistrict) ; Mr. JV. W. Venn (Makerua), Air. G. Stephenson (Shannon). - DETAILS OF ADMINISTRATION IN THE COUNTRY. The committee reported that all the cases in the Hutt Valley, Johnsonville and Hutt County Sub-districts had been inspected and carefully enquired into, with the result that reductions had been possible in these districts to an extent which represented nearly £400 per annum. The committee adds :—"Knowing from experience the importance of personal application being made for charitab]e aid, it was arranged from the commencement that the superintendent should attend at Petone on Thursday in each week to confer with the chairman of the Hutt Valley Committee, to interview applicants and to issue relief. There is ample proof that this course i& a judicious one. Among others, it has disclosed the curious tact that monetary assistance from a Jocal body_ is not infrequently regarded as something quite different from receiving charitable aid. Arrangements are well in .hand for the administration of 'the Horowhenua district, which, by reason of its large extent, has presented some difficulties ; but quotations having now been received for the supply of rations in the various townships, it is confidently hoped that everything may be in readiness to relieve the local bodies from their present voluntary responsibilities at the end of the month. The system which has been inaugurated for dealing with out of town relief is as follows :—Re■lief Committees composed of members of the board were set up by the board. These have been augmented by the appointment of other gentlemen, not members, as provided by the Act. While the volume of aid ( does not require nor warrant formal meetings of these committees, the individual members provide immediate temporary relief to any nec"essitous persons in their vicinity. For this purpo3e arrangements; are made with local tradesmen to supply rations at a given price. Each member of a committee is supplied with a small book of rations orders and a few "history sheets." On an application being made to him, the member is requested to fill up, as far as possible, the history sheet, and, if satisfied, to issue a ration ticket for one week. He then immediately forwards the history sheet with the advice slip, which is attached to the ration order, to the Charitable Aid Supeiiiitendent. In near, districts, where it can be done inexpensively, the case is then inspected by the board's visitor 'and reported upon. If satisfactory, further ration orders are issued by the superintendent for one, two, or more weeks as the circumstances may warrant. At Petone, which is the most important centre, the case is, as already explained, dealt with personally by the superintendent. * "In the Horowhenua district, where frequent visiting is obviously impracticable, it is proposed to rely upon information supplied by the members of the committee, for arriving at the merits of the case. So far as relief is concerned, the grant made by the member will always be continued in the meantime, so that no risk may be run of any applicant lacking the necessaries of life. Cash grants in aid o£ rent, not being so urgent, may be the subject of further consultation ; casual relief, which is almost exclusively confined to the larger townships of Otaki and Levin, will be mi the hands of those members of the committee who are also members of the board. Consultations with these gentlemen when they happen to be in town, and an occasional general inspection by an officer at the discretion of the Chantable Aid Committee, are expected to hi sufficient to complete the administration of this sub-district, which, although large in extent, is so prosperous and self-reliant that it makes few demands U{)on charitable aid. "On completion of the arrangements in the Horowhenua district, the charitable aid administration of the board will be fixed on a uniform and homogeneous b&gifc W-hile the ultimate control .will be

centralised in the board, as contemplated by the Act, the detailed administration will be located in the various committees. The principle, "so unanimously supported by every competent authority, of relief in kind on a standard which, while ensuring the necessaries of existence, renders self-help indispensable, will have been systematically adopted and the unsatisfactory and demoralising effects which have everywhere been found to follow upon relief in money or unrestricted orders will have been, as far as possible, guarded against by what have been shown over and over again to be the most effective methods." The report was adopted.