HOSPITAL AFFAIRS

Evening Star, Issue 20979, 18 December 1931, Page 11

HOSPITAL AFFAIRS

MONTHLY MEETING OF BOARD The monthly meeting of the Otago Hospital and Charitable Aid Board was held last night, those present being Messrs W. E. S. Knight (chairman), W. B. Morgan, G. Gallaway, J. W. Scurr, D. M'Lennan, A. F. Quelch, Dr W. Newlands, Miss Runciman, and Mrs Macdonald. ACCOUNTS REMITTED. Accounts totalling £2,113 2s 5d for maintenance in the liospital and other institutions of tho board were remitted. MASSAGE DEPARTMENT. T, J. A. Jenkins and A. P. Dempster applied for enrolment as massage pupils.—Noted. HOSPITAL BOARDS’ CONFERENCE “I think it is most improper that a. conference should be held at all,” said Mr Gallaway when intimation was received from the Hospital Boards’ Association of New Zealand that a general conference was to be held in Timaru on February 2of next year. Mr Gallaway said they had told a deputation they were “hard up,” and yet it was now proposed they should hold a conference. It would probably cost from £SO to £75 to send delegates. In his opinion most conferences were a waste of time, nothing being done. When the time came ho would oppose the sending of delegates from the board. The letter was received. FIRE PROTECTION. A loiter was received from the City Council declining an application for the extension of tho water mam for fire protection at the nurses’ home at the Wakari Hospital. It was pointed out that tho council could not, as a matter of policy, reticulate for fire protection purposes only. Mr Scurr said it seemed a ridiculous position. Surely the nurses were as worth protecting as other sections of tho community. Ho was sure tho council did not realise the proper position. The buildings were in the council s area, but were isolated. Mr Morgan said he was sorry the City Council had declined the application. The board had a very valuable property, and was paying a fair amount of rates and in insurances. He thought they should point out to the City Council that some of the unemployed might bo engaged on inch a job. He was sure there were some second-hand pipes which could be laid at a very small cost. He thought that if the council were again approached they would reconsider the matter.

Mrs Macdonald said the council was looking for work for the unemployed. It was decided that a deputation, comprising Messrs Knight, Scurr, and Morgan, should wait on the next meeting of the Water Committee to ask that the council reconsider its decision. STUDENTS IN RESIDENCE.

The House Committee submitted a report on the proposal to accommodate six final-year medical students at the Dunedin Hospital, this proposal having been put before tbe board at its previous meeting by a deputation from the University Council. The committee detailed the approximate cost ot taking the students into residence, and pointed out that additional expense would be incurred by the purchase ot extra furniture and fittings for the living quarters. ' Mr Callaway said he must protest against incurring extra expenditure at the present time. He the proposal be not entertained. Mr Morgan seconded the motion. . Mr Quelch, in supporting the motion, said he did not think the value of the service to the board warranted the outlay. The present was not the time to incur unnecessary expenditure. Mrs Macdonald pointed out that Sir Lindo Ferguson, who headed the_ deputation, bad stressed the necessity of securing good hQuse surgeons for the hospital. Fewer men were going through, and this was a way or getting in early and securing house surgeons. Voting on the. motion was equal, the chairman then giving his vote in favour of tbe motion, which was earned. Mr Knight remarked that personally he thought the time was not opportune to adopt the proposal, as the board could not afford any extra expenditure. POSITION OF MASSAGE PUPILS. Included in the report of the Hospital Committee was a reconimendation that the following applications for enrolment of pupils of the massage school be approved for the session commencing in March, 1932Sladden, Joan h.; Clark, Isobel M.; Moore, Eileen R.; Kirk, Ethel Margaret; Hitchmgs, Betty N.; Tweed, Marjory G.; Blaney, Nancy; Malcolm, Alison C.; Peters, David C.; Swan, Franklyn H.; Spar, Ellen Lydia; Howden, Frances F.; Falconer, Ruth E.; Beath, Grace; Haworth, Zona May; Worsp, Eleanor A.; Duncan, Shona; M'Anenn, Leonard; Adams, James M.; Crawshaw, Norah. Dr Newlands stated that just, as, had happened in some of the training colleges, some of the trainees w6fe blaming the board for not finding them employment on the completion of their training, and were complaining that after being trained they were left stranded. He had explained to some of these pupils that, beyond training them, the board could not take the responsibility of finding them employment, but nowadays there seemed to be a tendency to lean on any pouters that happened to bo handy. He had suggested to the principal of the school that the number of trainees should be limited to under twenty, but she bad explained that this would hardly be fair, as some of the pupils wished to get the training, irrespective of taking up massage as a career. It might be as well for the secretary, when notifying applicants of their acceptance for training, to add a- memo disclaiming any responsibility for the ' applicant’s future career, and pointing out that openings were not so numerous now as they used to be. He would move in this direction. Mr Quelch seconded the motion,, which was carried.