SUPERINTENDENT STATEMENT

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 103, 4 May 1931, Page 11

SUPERINTENDENT STATEMENT

The Medical Superintendent of the Wellington Hospital (Dr. H. B. Ewen) has forwarded to the Hospital Board the following statement giving the statistics relating to patients during the past year, including details as to the average days' stay in hospital. The figures for tlip previous year are given in parentheses:—Average' number of occupied beds per diem, 566.66 (573); average individual days' stay of all classes.of patients, 27.89 (25.07); average individual days' stay of patients in main hospital, 21.0 (20.0); average individual days' stay of patients in active adult wards, 18.8 (15.7); total number of deaths within 24 hours of admission, 95 (S7); rate of mortality per cent, over total cases under treatment, 4.77 (4.78); total number of operations performed, 3830 (3795); rale of mortality per cent, of operations, 1.46 (2.26). "It will be noted that the average1 days' 'stay of all patients in the institution has increased from 25.07 to 27.59. The figures for the main- hospital and active adult wards are practically the same. "Several factors have to be considered in relation to this matter. For example, the number of chronic cases is steadily increasing—there are now, to take one instance, some 95 cases of chronic tuberculosis as against 65 twelve months ago. The number of long-standing fractures and physiotherapeutic cases is steadily increasing. "During the year it was decided to do as much of the investigation work as possible in the outpatient department. This moans that a number of patients who would, under the old conditions, have been admitted to the wards for a night or two ai-e no longer treated as inpatients. The reduction in the number of short-term patients has the effect of increasing the average, days'stay. "In the active adult ward there are always a number of chronic patients who could be treated at less cost in a chronic hospital were one available for them. If these could be excluded from the returns the average days' stay in these wards would be considerably less than 18.8.-