HOSPITAL PLANS

Evening Post, Issue 42, 19 February 1936, Page 7

HOSPITAL PLANS

PROPOSED EXTENSION

BURDEN ON RATEPAYERS

COST OF SOCIAL SERVICE

The proposals of the Wellington Hospital Board for alterations and extensions to the present hospital buildings were considered at an executive meeting of the Wellington Ratepayers' Association last night, and the following statement was subsequently made:— "The association must bear in mind the indisputable fact that a social service, particularly that relating to health, cannot be submerged by the desire of any one section of the com-munity'merely-to relieve itself of taxation. True it is that anomalies in the Incidence .of taxation which may unduly burden one particular section of the community should be righted, and iii such a manner that the tax, which has- been proved to be necessary, be spread equitably over the whole community! "There -is a feeling amongst those who happen to have their savings invested in property that they are carrying a badly-balanced proportion of the cost of : social service; and there is much to be said for such, a contention. Property; unlike many other forms of wealth, cannot be hidden; computation of its worth cannot be faked and consequently the field of property is the happy hunting ground for all tax gatherers whether of local or national government. The Wellington Ratepayers' Association is the mouthpiece of those ratepayers who form its membership and it is the bounden duty of executive members to do all in their power to encourage sound administration and to discourage all forms of waste and extravagance."Coming to the problem under review the proposition we must consider is:—ls the Wellington Hospital—as at present functioning—meeting the needs of the community efficiently and economically. If not, what plans are necessary to give the necessary improvement? Will the present suggestions of the board suffice, and for how many years ahead? Will some measure of decentralisation be more efficient and more economical than a rebuilding and an extension of the present hospital? The site is not a good one quite apart from the building ques« tion. This point should be borne in mind. ; "It has been suggested that there is at present overcrowding. We do not dispute this statement. What we ac an association are attempting to do is to find out what is causing overcrowding, seeing that it is not many years since large additions were made to the hospital buildings. Is the service being more and more used because of its cheapness and in many cases because the service is free, or has the existing Public Hospital distinct advantages necessary to the common good that are.not possessed by private hospitals? Are private hospital fees ;so prohibitive as. to drive all but the affluent to the Public Hospital? : N FOR GREATEST EFFICIENCY J : "The next point to be considered is, what is the ultimate goal of the board? If it is a 700-bed hospital, what Happens in a year ;or two when this,' objective is: reached? Who will then care for the surplus over and above 700? One is naturally constrained to i ask whether it would not be better to fix a limit for the present hospital somewhat below 700, beds and expand into a. decentralised scheme of smaller hpspitals fitted to do specialised work — as an' instance, may we refer to maternity work? Most, if not all, of this is now carried on under a decentralised scheme, and appears to be working well. The argument is frequently used that centralisation makes possible more complete equipment than smaller hospitals could afford. This is a very pertinent argument, but there are very many ailments and diseases which require long hospital treatment and. with little or no surgical attention, and could not these be classified : and segregated' into groups, each group to its own hospital? Indeed, some such form of classification will be forced . upon the ' city ere long whether Wellington Public Hospital is enlarged t>r not. "Certainly there is a point at which centralisation becomes -top-heavy, and collaterally a point at which decentralisation becomes unwieldy, and before any. new scheme is embarked upon for ' Wellington Hospital improvements ratepayers are entitled to the benefit of a complete investigation, not only as. to the relative ■ costs of running 400, 500, 700, or 1000-bed hospitals, compared with, say, a main hospital of 500 beds and subsidiary hospitals as one group under unified control. Victoria Ward with its large number of beds is a case in point of a possible decentralisation. The type of patients cared for there surely do not require a fully-equipped surgical hospital, nor does a fever hospital. BURDEN OF INDEBTEDNESS. "We have reached a stage in local government where the cost of our social service has become a real and worrying burden to many, and new indebtedness should not be lightly undertaken. Our local government debt in this country is now at a figure several millions greater than was. the national debt of New Zealand in 1914. "Are we playing the game in passing on such heavy commitments to the rising generation? The young people coming on are already feeling the depressing effect of the struggle everyone has to make ends meet, and one hesitates to visualise the state of affairs in a few years hence if we as parents continue to pile debt upon debt. It has been said that we must not keep the city back and that too great a consideration of the financial aspect will have this effect. We doubt it, for extravagance is the natural outcome of all ill-considered schemes. .Overborrowing has always encouraged people to live beyond their means, and what applies to individuals applies equally to local bodies, whether they be hospital1 boards or city councils." A five-years', plan' for re-armament of the Portuguese Army was approved by the Government recently. The total cost will be £5,000,0b0, of which £1,500,000 will be spent this year. .Mr. C. I. Salaman, an English barrister, who directed in his will thai he was to have a private funeral, stated: "Wreaths are a; vanity and funeral coaches an abomination."