REPORT ON THE HOSPITALS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XX, Issue 143, 17 June 1886, Page 3

REPORT ON THE HOSPITALS.

[From our Wellington Correspondent.] I BY TELiGUAPH.J Dr Grabham's final report on the Hosj i'.alg in the colony was presented to Parliament to-night. In his general remarks the Inspector say*:—" As to Ihe condition in which I have found the various establishments upon toy visits of inspection, I may remark that I have seldom had to fiud fault The comfort and wellb-iug of the patients everywhere receives proper attention afc rhe hands or! the resident officers and Committees of management, and I have been glad to notice in many places a growing interest taken l.y the residents ia their local Hospitals, as evidenced by frequent visits and gifis of fbwer?, furnilure, and ornamemni objects. The Charitable Aid Bill passed last cession is only yet upon its trial, and it is too early (o speak as tp its working. Ir<gcel to observe, however, (bat under its provisions the whola of the suf:c;fluous Hospitals are likely to be maintained afc the public expense as separate ius.itucions. The residents iv large districts situated far away from any existing Ho<pital having hitherto tak n care of their eicfc and injured in private dwellings are viry naturally aggrieved at being called upon to contribute to the maintenance of a Hospital too far off to be of any material value to them. The result will certainly be a demand for the erection in such outlying districts of local Hospitals, fchaa the new' legislation will increase, rather than diminish, the number of establishments. Some difficulty is already showing itself where a medical school exists in connection with a Hospital. Here certain cases are admitted for operation by specialists or for illustrating diseases to students, the patients being often brought from distant places and in some instances with not much hope of benefit to them. The ratepayers very naturally object to contribute to the cost of a medical school. I have no doubt under the new Act some cheek will be put on the use of Hospitals for improper objects of charity, and upon the bestowal of gratuitous treatment upon those who are able to pay a more or less adequate sum for their maintenance. My visits during the year 1885 numbered 27, and would have been more numerous bufc for impaired health which prohibited my making long journeys by coach. My work as Inspector of Hospitals being finished, I look back with great satisfaction on the contrast which is noticeable between the present state of the Hospitals and their condition three and a half years ago. Everywhere I have been courteously received, my criticisms taken in good part and acted up to without delay, and it is my proud boast thai I have never had an angry word with either officer or patient. THE NELSON HOSPITAL. Reporting specially on the Nelson Hospital, Dr Grabham says: — "On the Bth December 1885 I paid a visit of inspection to this Hospital and went over the whole of the premises with Dr Boor, the resident medical officer. I found sixteen male and four female patients under treatment as in patients. One or two of these belong to the " chronic " class, the rest being proper cases for Hospital treatment. The large ward at the back ia resrved for infectious diseases, and is now empty. Io was recently occupied by two sufferers from dipiheria. i have very little to remark as to the Hospital generally, which has always presented to me an appearance of homeliness and comfort. The wards are large and well ventilated, and the bedding ia good and scrupulously clean. In the matter of furniture there ia nob that appearance of luxury to ba seen in othir colonial Hospitals, and which is often due to private gifts and individual efforts lather than to the expenditure of public money. 2So donbt under the new Act the subscribers will take more interest in their local institutions than has hitherto been shown, gome minor improvements have lately been carried onfc, such as the refiotiag of the new lavatory. A plan is also under consideration for diverting the drainage of the laundry urinals from a neighbor's premises (recently brought iato occupation) and conveying it into a proper sewer in the high road. Ib will be necessary, with this object in view, to erecfc a new laundry in a more elevated position, bub the expenee need not be large. The present arrangements for giving a hot bath are both primitive and inconvenient, the bath room being ab - some distance from the wards, and the furnace in a detached building. There is plenty of room for a bath near the ward lavatory, and I beg to suggest that one of the modern contrivances for heating it by means of gas be adopted. If successful, of which I have no doubt, the same arrangement may be carried out in all of the three wards. I recommend that the Hospital be at once connected with the Telephone Exchange in the city. No special arrangements are at all necessary for this purpose. The Nelson Hospital is exceptionally fortunate in retaining the services .of a medical officer who possesses the entire confidence of his committee, his patients, and the public generally."