SERIOUS PLIGHT

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 11, 14 January 1932, Page 12

SERIOUS PLIGHT

HOSPITAL FINANCE

GOVERNMENT HELP

POSITION REVIEWED

The serious plight. hospital boards are in at the present time, owing to the abnormal drain on their resources caused by unemployment, was placed before the Prime Minister (the Bight Hon. G. -Yv\ Forbes), the Minister in Charge of "Unemployment (the ■ Eight Hon. J. G. Coates), and the Minister of Health (the Hon. J. A. Young) by a deputation representing the Hospital Boards' Association of New Zealand today. It was stated that the deficit for the year for the three major boards — Auckland, Wellington, and North Canterbury—was expected to total £108,000, and the opinipn was expressed that unless, financial assistance were given by the Government the boards-" present operations could not continue.

11l a statement to the deputation the Minister -of Health said that the Treasury, had been recommended' to make interim payments totalling £37,000 from £75,000 allocated By the Government. It was proposed to allocate the balance, £38,000, before the end of the financial year. Even •nrith that, the sum would fall approximately. £50,000 short of actual requirements, and any ■ further . sum required would have to be a matter for consideration by the Government.

The. deputation consisted of-Messrs. W. "Wallace- (president of the Hospital Boards'. Association and chairman of the Auckland Hospital Board), H. J. Otley (chairman of the North Canterbury Hospital Board), AY. E. S. Knight (chairman of the Otago Hospital Board), IV Castle (chairman of the Wellington Hospital Board), Hon.-AV. H. Melntyro (chairman of the Buller Hospital.Board), and CM. Luke,,a member of the Wellington' Hospital Board. After the deputation had placed their representations before the Prime Minister, and the latter had replied, a conference was held in committee, when, it is understood, the general discussion took place largely on the question of policy. . . ■ ..■-.' ••-..■

MINISTER'S STATEMENT. The Minister of Health. (Hon. J. A. Young) subsequently made a statement to the deputation to the effect that really there were two issues involved in the "representations that had been made, the: immediate one ■ being the financial position, in which hospital boards found themselves in being un- ; able to meet the liabilities imposed upon them arising out of the extraordinary' distress due to economic unemployment. The other question was that of the [policy affeetingjhe operations and relief given through the Unemployment: Board and its relationship to what was being done as far as hospital boards wove concerned. On the latter subject he had no comment to make other than to say that it might involve legislation, which 'was a matter for the Prime. Minister and his colleagues. ; He had followed the figures submitted by the deputation regarding estimated deficits for the.year, and they tallied approximately with those the Health Department had prepared as at 31st December. The metropolitan boards w.ere those mainly affected and the claims particularly of Auckland, Wellington, and North Canterbury were the most urgent. -

The totai estimated deficit for the. year oii: the operations of the Auckland Board would be £61,000, of --which £35,000 would be due to unemploynicnt relief. In. Wellington,' the "total estimated deficit was approximately £33,000, of which, £25,000 would be due to unemployment relief. In North Canterbury, the total deficit ■ was £18,000, of which £11,000 would be due to .unemployment relief. ; ■ " THE TOTAL DEFICIT. ■'! That left a balance of £ 15,000 estimated total deficit for all the other boards, said Mr. Young, of which . £10,000 would bo. due to unemployment relief making a total.of £127,000 estimated deficit for the year ending 31st. March, 1932, of which £81,000 would: be due to unemployment relief. In addition to the £81,000 deficit due to unemployment relief, general maintenance of hospitals would account for £31,000, and estimated deficit due to a. drop in the receipt of; patients' fees, £15,000, accounting for the total of. £127,000. The Minister said that he had found quite a few members of hospital boards who were of the belief that the;function of a hospital board ended in providing hospital accommodation and treatment. Although the statute had little to say with respect to charitable relief, it made it clear that "every, hospital board shall have the administration of charitable aid .within the district of the board in accordance with the provisions of this 'Act," and,.in addition to that, the Act provided that a hospital board "might apply any moneys in its;hands in such proporton. and in such" manner as it thinks fit . . . for the purpose of ... the provision of charitable aid by way of grants of money, food, and other requirements for indigent, sick, or infirm persons who.' are not inmates of any institution."; Some had: been inclined to read-it as meaning "indigent side," he said, but that was aofc the case. , : . POSITION HAS GROWN. However, the position has so developed that demands to-day on hospital boards for relief had grown far beyond the anticipations of those who-had originally designed the Act. A number of boards had declared that they had got beyond the limit of their resources to meet the situation, and this necessitated the Government providing extra assistance. The position of Dunedin was not as bad as it appeared, for at the end of December last the board was within its proposition of the estimate for the year, and according'--to-remarks of the chairman, they would be overdrawn to the extent of about £2000 for outdoor relief by the end of the year. The Minister pointed out that the Otago board had accumulated funds on which they could draw temporarily, and the matter of one or two thousand pounds should possess no difficulties to the board. He stated that unfortunately in the early part of the present financial year, and with the very best of intentions, the Government caused ~ the' hospital boards to write down their estimates, with- the result that a saving on the Government subsidy had been effected to the extent of £140,000, and in relief to local authorities of £130,000. That had been illustrated by the deputation in a statement made to the effect that Auckland city ratepayers . had been saved a sum of £10,000. The Minister said that in the Waikato hospital district the local bodies wore saved not less than £8000. The effect of that was that demands had been made on the Government for further assistance to hospital boards, and, as a consequence, the sum of £75,000 had been allocated by the Government for the purpose. Already the Treasury had been recommended to make the following interim payments:—Auckland Hospital Board, £20,000; Wellington, £10,000; North Canterbury, £4000; "Waikato, £2000; Buller, £1000. The balance of £38,000 it was proposed to allocate before the cud of the financial year. But even that, he would like to draw the attention of the Minister of Finance to, would fall approximately £50,000 short of actual requirements. He point-

Ed out to the deputation that as Minister of Health he had no control over finance, and he had to make good a caso to the Treasury. So far as the additional £50,000 was concerned, that was a matter for consideration by the Government. He said that a question to be considered was the extent to which hospital boards would-be required to spend money in social relief in order that boards may" be in a position to strike something like a reliable estimate of expenditure and liability early in the year, . ■

Appreciation of fhe lucid manner in. which Mr. Young had placed the facts before the deputation, was expressed by, Mr. Wallace. .' - ■ " "