HOSPITAL BOARD FINANCE.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 9 June 1932, Page 5

HOSPITAL BOARD FINANCE.

GOVERNMENT’S RESOURCES DECREASED, MINISTER URGES FURTHER ECONOMIES. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Thursday. Some important aspects of Hospital Board finance were reviewed by the Minister for Health, the Hon. J. A. Young, in opening the Hospital Boards’ Conference. He made reference to the economies that 'had been effected, saying they were most encouraging. Some boards had done exceptionally well. A few had not, perhaps, shown themselves to (be fully alive to the difficulties confronting the country and the need for .searching out all possible means for easing the burden of local and general taxation for hospital and charitable aid purposes. There was undoubtedly still scope on the part of some boards for increasing the charges for maintenance and treatment. It should be regarded as fundamental to the system that patients able to pay the cost of treatment should be required to do so. Boards as a whole had to make up deficiencies of an aggregate of about £85,000 brought forward from last year. Steps were being taken by the Unemployment Board to relieve hospital boards of the greater part of their past burden of unemploiymient (relief. This would make the Department’s and Boards’ problems so much less embarassing. _ Nevertheless, for this year, the estimated requirements for outdoor relief were approximately the same as the amount provided on the estimates last year, £IB,IOO this year against £17,800 last year. The difficulties confronting Boards were fully appreciated by the Government. It could net be too strongly emphasised, however, that the financial resources of the Government were this year considerably decreased as compared with last year, and they must endeavour to struggle along with a reduced allocation for subsidies for hospital board purposes. He appealed for a continuance of the efforts to effect savings in maintenance costs and generally to ease the load on local ratepayers and the general taxpayers. In reference to staffing, the Minister pointed out that there, were great variations as between the various institutions, both in regard to the number of the staff to ‘beds and the number of trained nurses to untrained nurses. He commended to the conference for

consideration the question of standardisation of the schedule of staff required im respect of duties, hours of service and rates of salaries and wages in yarioiis types of hospitals. Some hospitals economised and some did not; some were overstaffed and some were understaffed.