DEMANDS ON HOSPITAL

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 February 1947, Page 8

DEMANDS ON HOSPITAL

DECLINE’ IN HOME TREATMENT OF CASES BOARD DISCUSSES POSITION The need for action to be taken to prevent outside doctors from sending patients to the Grey hospital for treatment when they did not actually require to be removed from their homes, was stressed by Mr. A= Mosley, at the monthly meeting of the Grey Hospital Board last evening. “There is definitely not the home nursing now that there used to be,” he said, “and the result is that hospitals are sometimes unnecessarily overcrowded.” Following a report by Mr. J. E. Stokes on a recent conference of hospital boards, Mr. Mosley .asked whether the. admission of'•patients by outside doctors. When hospital . treatment was not required, had been discussed there. Staff Shortage. When Mr. Stokes replied in the negative, Mr. iViosley said he wondered whether something should be done about it in view of the serious nursing position. Though he' was a layman, it appeared to )iim- that a number of patients in the Grey hospital came into the category of those who could be treated at home. “In view of the shortage of staff and the long hours which nurses and the hospital staff have to work, this is a matter which our medical superintendent, Dr. Barclay, might, take up with the outside doctors, Mr • Mosley added. “We are reading every day of hospitals where wards have to be closed and where it has been threatened to close others, ana we should do something, to restrict our admissions to a minimum. Mr Mosley said he knew the superintendent had the power to refuse to admit a patient, Uut the use of that authority might easily aftecthe relationship between himself and the local doctors. . The chairman, Mr. J. F. Oakley, pointed out that the superintendent had the right at the present time to send a patient home when he considered him fit enough. Discussed in Committee. “I will be very glad'to discuss this matter if it is held in committee, said Dr. Barclay. “I can give very much more information which may be of some use to the board.’’ . . The remainder of the discussion was continued in committee, but this morning it was announced that the board had asked Dr. Barclay to take what action he considered desirable in the matter.