THE FAR SOUTH

Hokitika Guardian, 10 November 1936, Page 6

THE FAR SOUTH

MED 1C A L AG Rfc EM ENT SOUGHT.

BOARD TO WAIT ON MINISTER.

T[he. jHpspitgl.Board last evening spent a considerable time in considering a proposal to establish a 'medical."agreement"; with the publid works employees in the far south.'. The chairman defined the Board’s estimate, , .i.Sinith,, P { .W,D.,. .district ehginee^.putJhe Department’s case, while Mr.N.H. Brown outlined, the attitude 1 of ijhe . v Westland.^Medical .■ Wataroa. After discussion, it ;wgs.,jdecjded, that-. Messrs Puff and ü ßrpwn ..visit ..Wellington and wait on to ppme,, to some arrangement and , secure assistance. - ilU\i ' ':Mt Duff said,;.there .had^been ? a jbig . brjhgihg.ijbheMißoard into , the position ,w|iere ( ;it should do something to pro?'vide a.’medicgl agreementto.ensure tha ; .men. on public .works receiving necessary adequate -medical attention; As, the Board was quite prepared to treat-all,'it; was necessary to! make financial arrangements, whereby tlie Board -would .be safeguarded, and adequate .treatment. gi ven. .-They wished to assist the other .departments as far as was possible. - i The Health Department wrote requesting the Board to give consideration, to the request of the Public Works. Committee at Weheka, and further south. -The men there were very pleased there was now a doctor at iWataroa, but they considered further medical provision was necessary. They suggested the appointment of a trained nurse at Weheka, arid the establishment of a casualty station. I Mr :Trevor Smith said reasonable I benefits were’received in other districts by the . levy of Is a week per member of associations. The Weheka men, about I§o, were each, prepared, to pay Is a week for. the services of a doctor one each ..week, but the v considered such an arrangement was not fair, being an oyprcjrayge on, the. men with insufficient trpfttipent', in. return. -Several camps hqd, bepni formed, .gad ..were a inrmber ;pf ~inpn ..at jßruce Bay . who ; n,epdqd - adequate service, .frr ability to cases frttenjjed, to in sonic) was prepared 14 cppy.ay seyious pases, to . hospital or tc| ipqtli.ciil attention, s fjut, t here were many pUs es ity'Uiph required attention for only ,a (Jay or 1 two. v phe Department had agreed, .to, erect a casualty station with ..beds, at Bruce-Bay and Weheka if they would be equipped, by somebody. The one at, Weheka was needed immediately, But. might not. be wanted there. for long.-The work was . being pushed on south, and .the Weheka, building could be. movjad on also. The one at Bruce Bay proposed to pay Is, a week, which was more v 'than other men round and ne’r the town paid, but they were not go : ng to.get one shilling’s benefit a week in return' from avisit mice a week by the doctor at- Wataroa. Contribution would be' compulsory, and .the Department would guarantee that other Public. 'Works'men ’in ■ Westland, might join in a comprehensive scheme, making the scheme workable, assuring the Board revenue, and obviating the over-bur-dening of the South Westland Association. iHe asked. the Board to consider equipment and staffing of the two hospital . stations.... he understood, applied only to the workmen, and not to dependents. Mr Brown agreed to a large extent with Mr Smith, but said the latter had an enlarged idea of what the men were entitled to for Is a week. The service offered was greater than that given to the Association’s own members, ,who Had paid £2 a year each just to get the doctor in South Westland. His Association thought it would be advis. b’e to . secure an agreement with the Weheka Committee. It was really the ion« -Association, Weheka being the southern division. The Association did not think that Is a week could cover hospital and medical expenses. In other districts as much as 2s 2d and 2s 3d a week was paid for the benefits the Weheka men desired. It had been said before that the. far south would not receive adequate service until casualty stations were established, and Mr Smith had agreed thereon that evening. At present the doctor at Wataroa was making arrangements to get down to Bruce Bay, and to remove patients ! where necessary. The Association had also -been considering the advisability of ..establishing a couple of beds at Watai.roa to deal with certain cases, -yV' In reply to -Mr . Brown, Air Trevor Smith said a nui;se. .and an .assistant would b© sufficient at eaeli station.. Mr this a good idea. He suggested that a suitable person, one of the employees, with first aid knowledge, could be appointed to deal •■with eases, pending the a nival of the doctor. The Association could Viiot offer more than it had in return for the levy of Is a week, bbt would make a contribution toward the nurse at Bruce Bay. ' "?Mr J. -A- Murdoch said. the Board had trqide all its financial arrangements at the beginning of the year. This was 8/ ii extraordinary While he did not wholly agree with the Department’s attitude, neither ..did lie agree with Mr Brown that the question of an agreement should be made through the Association. A few weeks ggo, he said, the Minister of Public Works (the Hon. R. ’ Semple) outlined w)iat be proposed to do for the people of South Westland, a big duty evolving on the Government. One of the big features was that of collective payment. Many letters were being returned tp the Board, marked: Addressee Unknown, and thb Bbard Wat failing tb jeceive , -v— i

'is '• payment ■ for serjrices, and was convinced' tliat assumed names were used when some men came Here, or after they left. He would like to see Welieka treated- as al separate entity, just as the Board had .treated Wataroa. To put up thele casual stations and then hand them over to the Board was not what was behind the Minister’s speech. ff e thought if the chairman and Mr Brown were to. wait .on the Minister in Wellington, and lay the whole position before him, and the.Mini.ster.were to follow along the lines of his recent speech, they would get a satisfactory agreement. v..;h', n .' He moved in this direction, and the motion was carried after being seconded by Mr A. B. El cook. ! .„ Mr Trevor Smith added that the doctor’s presence was not one• of t_he itSt? portant services sought. .What they wanted was someone who could attend to minor accidents. He considered it advisable for the Board to conduct the casualty stations in conjunction with j the Afesbciationt I