HOSPITAL BY-LAWS

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 September 1934, Page 5

HOSPITAL BY-LAWS

DISCUSSION BY BOARD AN EXCHANGE OF ‘COMPLIMENTS’ Other than two lengthy discussions on hospital by-laws, payment to a temporary staff of nurses, and the usual monthly reports from departments, the Greymouth Hospital Board, which met last evening, conducted its business in committee. The atmosphere iyas charged with personal feeling. Those present were:—Messrs. R. McTaggart (Chairman), H. G. Carter, J. Mulcare, F. L. Turley, A. Mosley, A. Donnellan, J. B. Kent, J. Kyle, and Mrs K. O’Brien. The Roa, and Blackball Medical Clubs notified acceptance of an agreement with the Board, for a further six months, whereby treatment of members will be given at the hospital, on the payment of sixpence per week by each member. Three-monthly tenders for supplies to the hospital, commencing from October 1, were accepted from G. Preston and Sons (fish), A. Lima (bread), Mawhera Meat Company (meat). Notice of motion, given by Mr. Turley at the previous meeting, which aimed at amending part 2, of Section A of the Board’s by-lhws, dealing with the appointment of officers was discuss- . ed. Mr Turley said his reason for moving the motion, was that he consid- , ered the by-law was not right, for it ■ gave the Secretary, and other members of the staff, the right to make appointments. All appointments, he I said, should come before the Board. 1 In the case of an emergency it would 1 be quite in order for the Chairman t and the Secretary to make a temper- i ary appointment, then refer the mat- £ ter to the Board. It was not right 1 unless the appointments came before the Board. The-by-law gave the Sec- 1 retary, and others the right to ap- 1 point certain people, but the speaker 8 considered that all such appointments r •should come before the Board for approval. He moved in accordance with his notice of motion. Mr Kent (who had a copy of the by-laws, from which he read), stated that if the portion to be deleted, was j read it would be seen that the Board, after consideration of the report, and .. the recommendation of the controlling officer, who would be either the Secretary, Medical Superintendent, or Matron, confirmed the appointment. D No appointment was made without v confirmation by the Board. Mr Kent n asked Mr Turley if he knew the exact a nature of his notice of motion. c Mr Turley: The wording is there. s You are putting a different construe- t tion on it. e Mr Kent: I am reading it from the o by-laws. w Mr Turley: The existing by-law G gives the Secretary, and others, th® g right to make an appointment. If it a is an emergency appointment, it is v quite different, providing jt is only a F n temporary one. u The Chairman: Any seconder to the 1T motion? °

Mr Mosley: I will second it. Personally, I think that every appointment made, should be brought before the Board. Mr Kent: But they are all brought before the Board. I am rea'ding from the by-laws. Have you the by-laws there?

Mr Mosley: Yes. Therd are plenty of appointments made that are not made by the Board. Mr Kent: I can’t see anything wrong with the by-laws. They are model, and framed after years of consideration being given to them. Mr Kyle: Appointments made by the executive officers are brought for approval by the Board. Mr Mosley: The point is made that they do not come before the Board. Mr Kent: They are defined, and come before the Board. It cannot be expected in the case of a contractor or engineer or such like that a special meeting of the Board be called to make such appointments. Mr Mulcare said the County Council had a pretty extensive staff, and the matter of staff appointments was left to the Engineer. As far as the Board’s by-laws were concerned, they were similar to those in general operation throughout hospitals in New Zealand. The Board could not be .expected to hold special meetings to consider “tin pot” appointments, in support of which applicants pestered and canvassed members of local bodies. He knew of occasions where it was stated in an advertisement for a position, that canvass of members would disqualify applicants. That was

- ABSOLUTE HYPOCRISY. Every local body member knew that. The speaker knew that on occasions every member of other local bodies had been canvassed by applicants. He positively knew that such was the case, despite the advertisements giving notice of disqualification. “It just depends who you are. A quid pro—you know what that means,” added Mr Mulcare. The Chairman said the Board had had Departmental officers continually visiting the institution for many years, and they were satisfied with the by-laws of the Board. If the con trol of. the executive officers was taken away, it would set a worse problem for the Board. If the motion was carried it would mean that applications would have to be called for the positions of maids, laundresses, and such like, and the Board meet to make the appointment. In the past such positions had been controlled by the Matron, and others by the House-Manager, and none had been questioned. “To me it appears that the motion is definitely getting after the Secretary, to undermine his authority,” added the Chairman. “The Secretary should be able to judge whether a person is suited to a position, after a few months on trial. It would be just as logical to have such people put in an application to be given a job, as a maid, laundress, or any position about the institution, and the Board to meet and consider each one. The motion is far-fetched. I am not in favour of any alteration. If we make any, we will have to make it general. All appointments are approved by the Board, or otherwise. It should not be any trouble for the executive officers to decide whether a person is suitable for the position to which he or she has been appointed. If they are not satisfied, then they know what to do.” Mr Carter stated that his experience on local bodies had been that the executive officers had power to make certain appointments to the

staff. He could not understand why it was desirable to take such power from the executive officers, for, after all, they were conversant with the work of the staff. He had no intention of supporting the motion. Mrs O’Brien moved an amendment that the by-laws, as printed, stand. She was not in favour of any alteration. It would be absolutely absurd for the Board to have to meet before an appointment could be made to the domestic staff. A record was kept, and any person appointed was first on trial.

The Chairman said an amendment was not necessary. All new members to the staff were put on trial for a period. Mrs O’Brien: The Matron should know best what is required of the staff members. If any persons wanted somebody to help in their home, they Would choose their own helper, not run about the country asking the opinion of others. They would use their own judgment in the matter. The Chairman: If the secretary makes an appointment to his staff, and he considers the person suitable he will keep him. If not, then he will not keep him. Mr Kent: The Board has the final say in such matters. Mr Turley: I want to say that it appears most of the members do not know the by-laws. It does not matter what interpretation Mr Kent will put on them. Mi- Kent: Point of order, Mr Chairman. I was merely reading from the by-laws, which the member who gave •notice of motion, declined to do. Mr Turley said that the by-laws made it possible for the secretary, and other executive officers to make several staff appointments. The Secretary: What ones? Mr Turley: The Secretary is not in

the discussion. I am now speaking to members of the Board. If the bylaw stands there is the possibility there for many appointments to be made. It leaves a loophole in it for appointments that have been made, which should not have been made. Mr Kent: Point of order, Mr Chairman. Mr Turley has made a statement, and we want to know what the appointments were that he has referred to.

Mr Turley: If Mr Kent imagines he will put me off what I was going to say, by rising to points of order, he will not get far. So far as I have gone, I am quite certain of my position. I will leave that to you to judge. If members take the trouble to read the by-laws they can put a different interpretation on my notice of motion. Mrs O’Brien: That is only your opinion.

Mr Turley said he believed some members- of the Board were not conversant with the by-laws. They simply made up their minds to oppose a thing, and were not prepared to hear it discussed. Mr Kent was quite wrong in saying the by-laws were general throughout New Zealand. The speaker had a dozen sets of by-laws in his office, of hospitals to which he had written, and they differed from ythe Greymouth Hospital Board’s. He had gone to much trouble in the matter, and knew what he was driving at. He was not worrying about the secretary. His objection was that the executive officers should be in the position to make appointments to the staff, without the Board’s approval. He knew of a case where an appointment had been made on the staff, which was unsuitable, but nothing had been done about it until it was brought before the notice of the Board, from outside. The Chairman: Are you finished? I want to know what appointments have been made that should not have been made.

Mr Turley: As Chairman, you should know, yourself. Read the by-laws and you will find that there are quite a lot of appointments the executive officers can make without referring 'to the Board.

Mr Kent: Regarding the notice of motion, Mr Turley asked for it to be read out. He did not know what it was. It seems the many points he says he knows, he knows nothing about. The Chairman: I have asked him a question. He made assertions, and I want him to prove them. Mr Turley: It’s for you to look up the by-laws. I place an entirely different interpretation upon them, than evidently you do. Mr Kent said that Mi- Turley had stated other members were not acquainted with the by-laws. Well — Mr Turley: If this discussion is going to continue, Mi- Chairman I want the right of reply. The Chairman: You can have it.

KNOWLEDGE QUESTIONED. Mr Kent said he desired to prove that members had given the matter consideration. As a matter of fact, he added, he did not think Mr Turley could say who it was that made the appointments amongst executive officers, so far as the by-laws w-ere concerned. Mr Turley could not tell the speaker the Act. He was only just testing Mr Turley’s knowledge. “He says he has given the matter much consideration,” said Mr Kent, “but I don’t think he knows anything about it.” Messrs Kyle and Kent, and Mrs O’Brien here commenced to speak simtaneously, and they were apparently accusing Mr Turley of having forgotten his notice of motion. Mr Turley: It is perfectly true. It went out of my mind till mentioned on the agenda paper. I gave the question a lot of consideration. It takes time to draw up amendments to bylaws. Probably Mr Kent would not be able to draw up an amendment even if he had a whole week in which to do it. Mr Kent: Possibly I could not. The Chairman, in answer to a member, who asked how much longer the discussion was to last, said, “I thought we might give him an opportunity for a full discussion to-night, a§ it might be Mr Turley’s last meeting.” The motion was then put to the meeting, and lost, Messrs Turley and Mosley being the only members to support it. The Chairman: Any further general business before we go into finance.Mr Mosley said he desired to draw attention to by-law 120, on page 19 of the Board’s by-laws. Under the section referring to the Matron, the bylaw read: “She shall report all matters concerning the nursing staff, to the Medical Superintendent, who in. turn shall transmit such reports to the Board.” “Are we getting them?” asked Mr Mosley. “I have not seen, any such since being a member of this Board.” The Chairman: Yes. We get them in the Hospital Committee’s report. Mr Mosley: We do not get these referred to here. We only get those coming under by-law 135, which are monthly reports.

The Chairman: We get reports of everything that transpires under the Matron’s staff.

Mr Mosley: If there are any reports to make, the whole Board should be consulted in every matter. Mr Kyle: We are a Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. I am getting sick of all this sort of thing being brought up, night after night. I object to members bringing along by-laws under their arm, and plonking them down on the table. I object to it. They should be ruled out. This Board carries out its work properly, and if it cannot do things properly, it does not go the back-door way. Mr Donnellan: That’s the best of having a clear conscience. The Chairman: If we were to ask for every little detail under the bylaws, we would get into a pretty fine mess, and the girl in the office would get into a fine iness too. We could not have it all in open Board. Mr Mosley answered that he did not propose that such matters should be discussed in open Board. Mr Kent: You get all the reports in committee.

Mr Mosley: I do not think we do. Mr Turley: Have they ever stated reason for all the resignations? The Chairman: You asked for it, and got it. Mr Turley said all reasons should be given for resignations and dismissals. The Chairman: You are not going to get them here. Mr Donnellan (to Mr Turley): People might want to know the reasons why you were put over the hill in your car. Mr Mulcare stated that the Visiting Committee received all the reports referred to. The speaker had noticed that Mr Turley had been seldom in the room for such meetings. Mr Turley: Then Mr Mulcare must be stone blind, mentally and otherwise. Mr Mulcare: I am prepared to leave that to members to decide. I don’t think I have seen Mi’ Turley at the Visiting Committee meeting, three times, and I insist I am right. Mr Turley: I insist you are wrong entirely. ■

STAFF CONTROL. Mr Mulcare said he felt that the Board was getting too much of little petty things, and not enough of hospital business. When the Visiting Committee had previously met in a small room in town, practically a day had been spent in enquiring into matters, but things had altered since the Board shifted to its present quarters. There was a big staff at the hospital, and while he did not desire to criticise the lady members, lie had to say that there were times when the staff was unduly troublesome. There were many young girls on the staff, and some of them had been at times difficult to handle. He was not saying anything against- the staff, for it was no better and no -worse than in other institutions. Things had a habit of “getting out,” however, and one was accused of belittling people. Young girls were taken on as probationers, and the Matron did not know anything as to their character, but had to be given time to find out for herself. There had been a lot of "climbing in through windows,” in the past but not much of it in late months. Mr Mosley said that Mr Kyle had accused him of being personal in his remarks. The speaker had not been, and he took objection to Mr Kyle’s statement. He (Mr Mosley), had not suggested that the reports he desired, be given in open meeting. He suggested that Board members had a right to know the reasons, when resignations came in from the staff. There had been endless resignations and dismissals. The Chairman: I’ll pull you up there. Name the dismissals. I want you to name them now, to the open meeting.

Mi- Mosley: I will name them in committee, not in open meeting. Mrs O’Brien said that such matters were discussed at the committee meetings on the Monday nights. Mr Mulcare commenced to speak, when Mr Mosley said, “Excuse me Mr Mulcare, I happen to be speaking to the Board; you can have your speak later. If Mr Kyle is not interested in the by-laws I cannot help that. If I had mentioned something that was not in the by-laws, I would be quickly told about it. But I am reading from the by-laws. My only reference has been tb the by-laws, and I have asked the Board to tell me whether by-law 120 has been complied with. There is just another matter, the agenda paper. I hope it is not going to be the practice of this Board that the agenda paper be not sent out before a meeting. It is provided in the by-laws that the agenda paper be sent out to each member, two days before a meeting. I did not receive one for this meeting. Members are entitled to know what business is coming before the Board, and have time to give consideration to it. Apparently other members received an agenda paper, and I did not receive mine.

Mr Kent said he had brought that matter’ up when he first became a member. Then the meetings were changed, the old system of having the Visiting Committee, Finance Committee and the Board meeting all in one day having been found too much, and not affording members sufficient time in which to give consideration to the many matters which came before them. With one meeting on the Monday, and the Board meeting on the next Wednesday, it did not allow time for the agenda paper to be prepared, and sent to members. Mr Mosley: It had been prepared and sent out, right up till this meeting. Mr Kent: But the Board decided to defer it.. Mr Mosley: If that is so, then I am satisfied. I am prepared to take what other members are getting. Mr Kyle said that Mr Mosley had accused him of saying that the latter had been personal in his remarks. If Mr Mosley had taken it that way, Mr Kyle offered him his apologies, for it was not intended. As to the by-laws, he knew as much about them as did Mr Mosley. Mosley would have to go a long way to be better on by-laws, than some of the men who had been instrumental in drawing them up. “I have sat on this Board for four years, and I consider myself only a baby on it. We have had some of the most brilliant, and brainy men as members of this Board, but this is the first time I have seen a member come along and plonk a set of by-laws down on the table,” he added. Mr Mosley: Is that any disgrace, if I want to make reference to them? Mr Kyle: It seems to me that the charitable aid part of this Board’s work is slipping away. Why don’t we give more attention to the sick and needy, insteady of quibbling on bylaws? Mr Turley said he would move that all inward and outward correspondence in future, be tabulated and numbered on the agenda paper each month. He was of the opinion that there was a lot of correspondence received and sent out, that the Board members did not know about. If all letters were num"

i bered, and put on the agenda paper, j with a brief explanation such as—"Mr Kent re contract, Mr Fraser re stores,” 1 the members would know what was ; coming before them. He had seen as ; many as 200 such on the agenda paper - of a certain local body. Then, if any ; member wanted the letter, he would . be in the position to see what it con- , tained. The Chairman: Why not be manly ' about it, and pass a vote of censure on the secretary? Mr Turley: Your ideas and mine, differ. I am not worrying about the Secretary. I am worrying about' Board members. The Secretary is doing his work alright. The Chairman: You are only electioneering now. Mrs. O’Brien: Mr Turley- need not worry about Board members. They can get along quite well without his help. Mr Turley: Quite so. Probably some of you were sorry to see me come back here. The Chairman: You are only wasting the time of the Board by moving your motions. Mi- Kent interjected, saying that he thought the suggestion was quite a good one, but probably the Secretary’s system was’ better. He knew the local body to which Mr Turley referred. It was a trading concern, which was quite different from a charitable aid institution. The Chairman: Any seconder to Mr Turley’s motion? No! Mr Mosley: Yes! I will second it, just to test the feeling of the meet- 1 ing. Mr Donnellan: What’s your idea in testing it? Mr Mosley: Just to see what mem- ■ bers feel about it. The motion was lost, only Messrs Turley and Mosley supporting it.

PAYMENT OF NURSES. The Chairman: Any further general business, before we go into committee? Mr Turley: Just one question. I want to ask whether the nurses brought over from Christchurch for temporary employment, were paid any additional salary. The Chaiiynan: Yes, they were paid extra. They received the standard pay for trained nurses. They were all trained nurses that came here. Mr Turley: I want to know what was the pay. The Chairman: Four guineas a week. Do you object to the rate of pay? Mr Turley: I am not discussing that. I simply asked what amount. The Chairman: Well, you got it. It has been done on dozens of occasions before, when it has been necessary to get a temporary staff. It is the standard rate, and it has never been questioned before. We could not carry on with so many nurses sick, and so many patients. As I mentioned on Monday night, there were eleven nurses off duty, sick, while the isolation ward was put into use for the first time for a long period, five nurses being there. That depleted the staff to the extent of sixteen nurses. We had to engage extra staff. It might happen again, soon, and it might not happen again for many years. Mr Mulcare: It was one of those things you call a. “put up job.” The Chairman: iney recovered quickly when the Medical Superintendent arrived on the scene. Mr Mulcare: One of those miracles. Mr Turley: It is not the only miracle that has happened since the Medical Superintendent came here. Another miracle is how some Board members happen to get here. Mrs O’Brien: The people do elect ns, but they don’t elect you. That’s the difference. f

The meeting then went into committee.

HOSPITAL COMMITTEE REPORTS The Acting-Matron reported as follows: —August 14: Nurses O’Connell and E. Burrows resumed duty after sick leave. August 15: Nurse Daly reported for duty after three days’ sick leave. August 17: Trial Probationer M. V. Busch commenced duty. August 19: Trial Probationer U. Hall commenced duty. Nurse Callan resumed duty after sick leave. August 20: Nurse Wright commenced duty. Nurse Crompton commenced annual leave. Nurses O’Gorman, Ward, and Milliken terminated their relieving duties. August 22: Nurse Park tendered her resignation. August 26: Nurse Mcßeth resumed duty after 20 days’ sick leave. Trial Probationer Cranfield commenced duty. August 28: Nurse J. Bush commenced duty. August 30: Nurse Scoble terminated duty. August 31: Nurse Billett terminated duty after 10 days’ sick leave. September 3: Trial Probationer M. Gibbs commenced duty. September 5: Trial Probationer Trudgeon commenced duty. September 9: Nurse Petrie commenced duty after 15 days’ sick leave. September 8: Nurse Ileslop commenced annual leave, 21 days. September 11: Sister Haack commenced annual leave, 28 days. Domestic Staff: Mrs Rothera terminated duty, relieved by J. Moir. August 18: Ann McDonald sick leave until September 3, relieved by Doris Gilmore. Ivy Lee one week’s special leave, relieved by J. Baird. August 27: Mary Kelly resumed duty. August 25: Mrs Gilmore terminated duty in laundry. September 3: Nellie Baird commenced annual leave —relieved by K. Baird. I have to acknowledge with thanks the following gifts: Flowers from Mr Powell, Mrs Rutherford, Mrs Grocott, Mrs Moore and Mrs Hopgood. Books from Mr C. Wood. Tho Matron, Rewa Hospital, reported for period ending September 10: Admissions 22, discharges 24, births 21. Remaining patients 7, remaining infants 6. The Medical Superintendent reported for the month of August: — Patients in at beginning of month: Hospital, males 54, females 46; Old People’s Home, males 33, females 6. Admitted, males 63, females 60. Old People’s Home, males 1. Discharged: Males 69, females 66. Died, males 5, females 3. Old People’s Home, males 1. Remaining at end of month, males 43, females 37. Old People’s Home, males 33, females 6. The Bacteriological Department reported for the month of August: Specimens examined 181. Public health Specimens 26. Value of work £B6/10/- and £6/10/-. The Radiological Department for the month of August reported: No. of patients 97, average films per pt. 2.1. No. of films used 202, value of work done £194/5/-.

The Physiotherapy 'Department for the month of August reported: In Patients treated 163, Ultra Violet Ray 58. Out Patients treated 288.

> The Hospital Committee recom-1 ’ mended that the procuring of a House ’ Surgeon be left in the hands of the < ! Chairman and the Medical Superin- > tendent, a special meeting to be called ! ‘ if more than one application re- ' ceived. That the appointment of Miss M. A. Blackie as Masseuse be confirmed. That Sister Moore be . given three months’ sick leave, the Secretary to take up with the Insurance Company the matter of her compensation. That Dr Moore’s request that his duties terminate at midnight {on September 15, 1934 be agreed to, and that he be granted one month’s leave of absence on full pay in terms of his agreement. That the Medical Superintendent’s report on suggested economies be adopted ‘and any action necessary thereunder be approved. The Secretary’s action in paying Nurse Ctompton’s salary for annual leave was approved. FINANCE COMMITTEE. The Finance Committee recommended that accounts amounting to £llB5/14/8 be ratified, and accounts amounting to £1354/8/6 be passed for payment. Cobden Town BoardProtest regarding increase in levy: The Cobden Town Board be advised that it always has been and will be the earnest endeavour of the Hospital Board to effect every economy possible. In this connection it is recommended that the Secretary prepare a statement showing why the Hospital rating in Greymouth is so high.

. FINANCIAL STATEMENT. The Secretary submitted the following statement of receipts and payments, from April 1 to August 31, 1934:— Receipts: Patients’ fees £3007 12/11, bad debts £7/6/4, charitable aid recoveries £366/11/6, rent £9, miscellaneous receipts £3,0, maintenance subsidies £2700,’ overdraft £6442/2/10; total, £12,562/13/7. Payments:—Overdraft £457/15/5, hospital maintenance £8432/15/1, charitable aid—indoor £llOO/9/-, outdoor £842/18/8; administration £577 8/3, other institutions £369/2/3, rent, rates, etc. £55/3/4, interest on loans, capital £6OO, maintenance £5/9/2, N.P. Fund £79/19/3, miscellaneous payments £4l/13/2; total £12,562 13/7.

HOSPITAL INQUIRY. SUPPORT FROM BOARD. At a meeting of the Hospital Committee, held on Monday evening last, the Chairman (Mr R. McTaggart) submitted a reply, which he had framed, under instructions from the Board, to the allegations in regard to hospital administration, made by Mr F. L. Turley, a member of the Board, to the Minister of Health. The statement by the Chairman was unanimously confirmed at last evening’s meeting, without further discussion. It was resolved that the reply be forwarded to the Minister of Health, in compliance with the request from the Health Department, and that the Minister be asked to depute the Director-General of Health, Dr. M. H. Watt, to visit Greyniouth for the purpose of holding an inquiry into the affairs of the Greymouth Hospital.