HOSPITAL PLANS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 34, 10 February 1937, Page 12

HOSPITAL PLANS

THREE MAIN SECTIONS SOLARIUM MAY GO There appears to be a jjaod dea! of confusion iu the minds of Wellington people as to what the present building proposals put forward by the Wellington Hospital Board arc, for there has been so much discussion of amendments and curtailments of the proposals that the average person has rather lost track of what is what. There are really three distinct items, but each is related to the other two. It does appear probable that provision of an orthopaedic section and solarium for the treatment of crippled children and patients and of difficult fracture cases, will have to be deferred. The existing Nurses' Home is quite inadequate for the present staff, and 74 nurses sleeping two at a time in rooms built for one. In addition, accommodation has had to be provided for twenty others by leasing a. private residence. This state of affairs necessitated plans for a new wing to contain one hundred and twenty bedrooms, the estimated cost, furnished, being £79,750. Steam requirements in a modern hospital are much greater than formerly. Hence a reconstruction of the steam services is necessary. Looking to the future, the board fixed the maximum number of beds to be served at 1000, plus the necessary nurses' homes, laundry, and other departments. This means a new boiler installation with mechanical equipment of modern type, the estimated cost of which is £60,700. MEDICAL AND SURGICAL BEDS MOST URGENT. The hospital last year had need of 200 more beds than should have been placed in the existing wards, and tha board proposed the erection of a block with 420 beds, to be eventually increased to a maximum of 600. , However, to keep within the £600,000 decided upon for the whole programme at the present time certain sections had to be omitted. One complete floor of beds was struck from the plans, and it was through this curtailment that the orthopaedic section on the top floor was deferred. Though there is a real need for such a section, in which treatment of particularly valuable kind might be given, it was felt that the most acute need was for medical and surgical beds: 320 such beds were regarded as an absolute minimum. The cost of this block, which in addition to beds, will contain kitchen, din-ing-rooms for staff, dietetic department, stores, waiting.hall for visitors, board room, administrative offices, and a complete suite of six theatres and central dressings and sterilising section, is set down at £465,000. This makes an estimated total expenditure of £605,450. ORTHOPAEDIC TREATMENT. Though the. orthopaedic section cannot be provided at present, it is a branch of hospital treatment which is regarded as of particular value overseas. In this section crippled children can be given treatment under conditions most favourable to their recovery. The value does not end with the treatment .of actual cases of crippled patients, but has an equal importance in the treatment of difficult fracture cases and various other conditions which, for the want of special care and facilities, may lead to permanent crippling and deformity. Sun and open air are main factors in this work, and, hence, if a-separate building is not provided, this section is as a rule placed on the highest floor. This was what was proposed for Wellington, and the plans suggested 25 beds, proper school facilities, for the patients are often long under treatment, and possibly a swimming pool, which is of the greatest assistance in teaching muscles to function again. The sun and open air section is frequently referred to as the "solarium," and is! so designed that the maximum benefits can be obtained from sun and open air treatment under directly controllable conditions. As the sun does not shine all the days of the year, equipment for providing artificial sunlight is almost invariably installed. However, desirable though this section is, it does appear that it cannot be provided within the limits of the £600,000 expenditure.