WELLINGTON HOSPITAL

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 December 1940, Page 10

WELLINGTON HOSPITAL

SERIOUS OVERCROWDING [per press association.] WELLINGTON, December 10. A report to the Hospital Board, by the retiring superintendent, Dr. A. R. Thorne, draws attention to the serious overcrowding and worse than lack of progress, during six years of planning. He gave figures showing that every ward is over-crowded. The Board, he said, were up against a very serious problem, which had been allowed to develop for years, in spite of many warnings. Any further delay in dealing with the deficiency in beds would end in disaster. The total average of patients being dealt with at Wellington hospital, six years ( ago, was 580. The daily average last] month was 1931. In 1934, the waiting; lists were comparatively small ex- 1 cept’in one section. To-day there are 1 no fewer than 1138 patients on the waiting list. Twelve months ago it' was 741. J Dr. Thorne reviews the effect of ( many temporary remedial measures j adopted over the past six years, the; use of old Newtown school, a build- j ing subject to protests both by the; City Council, and the Fire Board, to' carry over the Winter, and certain other nearby accommodation outside j the hospital itself, and comments on! its inadequacy and ineffectiveness. He' says that beds in the Public Works. 1 Department ward now under construction and the Hutt Valley,hospital, the foundations of which were hardly started, would only cope with military needs and the equivalent of the waiting list requirements. That, meant the present overcrowding would become even worse, unless more wards were provided within the next few months. The main hospital and the improvised accommodation had to carry a daily

average of 198 more patients than the maximum normal occupancy, which should only be 80 to 85 per cent, of the total beds available. Figures for September were normal beds 352, plus verandahs 62. Total 414. Daily average 612. Highest occupancy 683. The excess was not due to military cases, the daily average for these being under 30, and more than offset by the daily average medical cases! housed at the infectious diseases hos- f pital, and not shown in the tables quoted. In the children’s hospital, the daily average was 94, with a total lormal accommodation for 64. Ninety-, four was by no means the peak fig-' lire, which was 134. j