PATIENTS’ PAYMENTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIX, Issue 117, 18 April 1939, Page 4

PATIENTS’ PAYMENTS

COLLECTION OF FEES. SOCIAL SEC UK I TV' SCHE.MIL “It will bo .seen that the estimate lor the past year was exceeded by £1024 4s Oil and that the lees collections during the last three years have increased by over GO per cent. In framing the estimates this year it is necessary to take into consideration the fact that some time later in the year the hospital benefits under the social security scheme will be introduced.” This statement was made bv the managing-secretary (Mr A. J. Phillips), when submitting to the annual meeting of the Palmerston .North Hospital Hoard, yesterday, an estimate of what patients’ payments would he received for 19.49-40 from the Palmerston North Hospital and Otaki Hospital. He added that the lees collection for the past seven years under this heading hn.d been as follow1942 4:1. £9467: 1943-44. £9947: 193435, £9974; '1945-40, £lO 070; 1940-47 £14.044; 1947-38, £14,870; 1948-49, £10.924.

“When we had a general discussion on the social security scheme in AVellington recently,” added the managingsecretary, “and at a time when the members of the Hospital Hoards’ Association executive were present and several executive officers of boards, it: was agreed that the best plan would be to use a figure similar to our last year’s estimate as a figure of revenue. .Members will remember that our last year’s figure of £15,000 was fixed on a conservative basis, and for that reason T am suggesting that wo estimate our revenue from patients’ foes as £IO,OOO. It remains to be scon how far we will be able to collect patients’ fees from persons who receive treatment from April 1 this year and prior to the time when the hospital benefits under the social security scheme are introduced. Assuming, for instance, that this period is four or five months (and [ cannot conceive that it could possibly be less than four months), I think that we might anticipate that during this period patients’ fees will he difficult to collect. Of course, wo have arrears standing on our books to recover, but t will take a considerable time to collect oven the good accounts, and 1 think it would lie unreasonable to estimate more than £IO,OOO from this source of revenue this year.

“The estimate this year for patients’ payments from the Otaki Sanatorioum

is £12,500. As regards sanatorium fees, the actual receipts for the past year included £4483 12s paid by this board to the sanatorium account for our own patients treated at Otaki. The collections from other boards since we took over the sanatorium have been as f0110w:—1944-44, £7644 0s 4d ; 1944-45. £8284 14s 2d; 1945-40, £8466 4s 10(1; 1946-47, £7901 10s 9d; 1937-48, £B4OB Is Id; 1938-49, £10,854 9s 10(1.

“The fact that we removed the far east block during the past year enables us to house more satisfactorily a large number of patients, and it seems likely that the sanatorium will remain practically full during the whole of the next year. “The estimate of patients’ payments and inmates’ lees lor the Awapuni Home is £SOOO. A part from the Awapuni Home, any miscellaneous charitable aid recoveries are credited to this item. The Awapuni Home receipts are steadily increasing, as we have a larger number of paving patients at Awapuni tlmn at any time previously. Furthermore, with the introduction of the social security scheme we will receive payment for the patients at present housed in the chronic wards at Awapuni; and with tlie increase in tbo pension it is to he expected that we will receive a larger amount for the patients’ maintenance, as, of course, the cost of maintaining patients has greatly increased during the last few years.”