HOSPITAL & CHARITABLE AID BOARD

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVII, Issue XLVII, 7 March 1912, Page 3

HOSPITAL & CHARITABLE AID BOARD

MONTHLY MELTING. I Tho libu:il monthly meeting ut lilt' Nel- ( son Hospital .and Charitable Aid Board was held last veil:iiii. Present - . Messrs H. Baigtnt (chairman). Honli, Hewetson. Higgins. Lock. J-rankiyn. Lowe, Allan, and Mrs. Watson. -»i>I Field was excus<-<| from attendance. 'nit j he tiMjk his seat at 9.15. The following aciutuHt; were n;.'.-eu for payment : —Hospital. £330 16.- CV : Charitable Aid. £283 6s lid. Th«- chairman leported that £ll7 7s 5d was collected from hospital patients for the month of February. 1912, against £62 2s 8d for the corresponding month of I 1911. I Mr. Allan reported on the yale by auction of a Hoard's lease at Motupipi. In answ-.r to a question by Mr. Lowe, it was stated that all the Board s leases were now leased under similar conditions. Mr Allan was thanked lor hio report, which was adopted, j In regard t<> arrears o! rtnl amounting I to £2O owing for a Board lease. Mr. Hoult moved that amount b? written off, I as in his opinion th c tenant had not been treated fairly by the Board. No seiondI t . r .—The chairman moved that th e Board | tak:- action to recover the amount. —I allied. Cr. Hoult diss*, ntiny. The report of the niasttr of Alexandra Home was read. Two inmates had I been admitted during the month, making I 39 in the institution—33 males and 6 females. Of these 26 were i" receipt of the old age pension. It was agreed that the matter of an outbuilding at the Home be lelt in t'i* ! hands of tho chairman. ! The relieving officer's report was read and discussed. | The constable at Murthison reported I on several matters in his district. 1 The Inspector-General of Hospitals wiote in regard to the constitution of the Board, suggesting that the charitable aiV! district £>e divided as follows: W'aimea and Murchison, 6 delegates; Motueka and Richmond. 1 ; Nelson C'tv. 4 . ("ollingwood County. 1: and 1 akaka County. 1 ; making 13 in all. 1 his would Ik? on "the same establishment as before, with the exception that Richmond was combined with Motueka instiad ol with Nelson. Cr. Hoult referred to the proposed Local Government Bill, and considered that the matter should not be considered until the Bill was brought down. Cr. Hewetson moved that the suggestions of tho Inspector-General be agreed to. —Seconded by Mr. 1-ield. — Lost on the voices. The Chief Health Officer wrot c notifying Mr. Middleton's qualifications for the position of sanitary inspector.—Matter deferred. . , On the suggestion of the P.csKknt surgeon, it was resolved that- a committee, consisting of Messrs Lock, I'ield and the' chairman visit the Hospital to inquire into the circumstances of the case. On the Resident Surgeon's recommendation it was resolved that no departure be made from the pre.se nt arrange ment of procuring drugs. The tender of F. Plum for £lO 10s was accepted for laying a drain at Alexandra Home. . Matters relating to several Board leases were dealt- with. It was resolved that- tenders for Board supplies of milk be called for for periods of one year and three years. It was also resolved to call for tenders for general supplies, to be dealt with by the Town Committee; and that in future to add fish to the supplies called for. It was decided to refund overcharge paid for hospital fees bv a patient resident in the country. The Board rose at 10.30 p.m. REPORT BY DR. WASHBOURN. At last night's meeting of the Hospital and Charitable Aid. Board the. follow-

ing report was submitted by th e Resident Surgeon (Dr. WashbournJ on the proposed children's ward : "in .regard to a site for a children's ward there is, under present condition?, little choice. Two things are in my opinion essential : "1. That it icommunicate with th<main corridor and operating theatre by a covered way. "2. That it shall not be reached through any other ward. "Three main suggestions have boon made as to site : —(a) That it be built out from tho central block of the main building in front. This would nece: citato the nurses being housed elsewhere, and is in other respects unsuitable. "(b) That it be built on to the end of the women's ward and that a new combined sanitary block be built to serve for both. This would mean that the women's ward would have to serve as a corridor and the traffic through, that, ward would be doubled—a most, undesirable feature —and, further, tliat children being taken to and .from ti.t operating theatre would have to pass through the whole length of the ward. This upsets many patients and is to be avoided. I strongly recommend that any idea of building on that site tie abandoned.

"(c) The only remaining site is behind the women's ward at a sufficient distance from it that the sun be not cut off iii winter. This site has drawbacks, but is better than the others, and admits of a not too long covered way from the m:>in corridor and theatre. "I should like to point out, however, that though there is in winter som e pressure on our accommodation we have always managed so far with what we have and can, in all probability, continue to do bo for some time to come. A children.s ward, if it is to be made use of as .such, would necessitate a permanent increase of at least four in the staff, and thoug.i there are usually a fair number of children in hospital, there have never been more than could be tolerably well managed .in the present wards and adjoining rooms. '

"Before many years are past the question of re-building the hospital will have to be faced, and on this account a difficulty arises in regard to the children's ward. Two courses appear to be open : "1. To build a wooden ward as cheaply as possible, recognising that it will almost certainly have to be taken down when the hospital is re-built, perhaps in eight or ten years, perhaps sooner. This would be rather wasteful and especially so in view of the fact that the need for such a ward is not at present pressing. "2. The other course would be to obtain from an architect a complete plan for re-building the hospital, and let the children's ward be the first instalment the rest to follow as necessity ,arose. The ward could 1 then be built permanently and properly in brick or concrete, and would serve for generations. To build such a ward except as part of a complete scheme would be a grave mistake. An architect called upon to.re-build the hospital around sundry islets of the sort would be in a difficult position. My own fec-l-ing is that if the Board find themselves unable *to adopt the latter course it would be better to defer tTie matter icr the present and invest the money, hoping that it will be added to fromttiem e to time and in the end amount to a sum sufficient to carry out the work properiy. I do not wish to throw cold water on the children's ward scheme or the generosity of tile public in subscribing a considerable sum towards it. There ire often enough children in hospital to fill a ward of 1() or 12 beds, sometimes more than enough. On the other hand, as I have . said before, any ward if it is to be kept open requires an addition of at least four to the staff, and hitherto we have always been able to manage the children along with the adults without unduly interfering with the comfort of the adult patients. One feels, further, that when the money is expended it should be in some thoroughly good and up to date building of permanent material. The day for the use of wood in such buildings has gone by. "Another difficulty arises in connection with any increase in the Bt aff there is no accommodation for them. Thirteen of th e nursing staff live in what were formerly Dr. Boor's private apartments. Already six of them share bedrooms in pairs, and there is no room for more beds, most of the rooms being quite small. In view of the smallness and unsuitability of their present quarters 1 and the importance of having them properly housed the public hav e generously assisted in raising various sums for the ourpose of building a proper nurses home, but, if another ward has to be staffed, the question will have to recenT serious consideration at once." The chairman said that the Resident Surgeon had gone beyond what- he asked to report on —a site for the children's ward —and had gone into the whole question of building. The information obtained by the Board in the past was that a children's ward was highly desirable. A sum of over £746 had been collected, and unless the Board carried out the building project he considered it would not be keeping faith with the public. He had always been of opinion that a children's ward was and, after hearing the Resident Surgeon s report, he saw no reason to change that view. They bad been toM by other medical men that there would not bo any necessity for an increase of the staff if 'a children's ward was built, although Dr. Washbourn was of opinion that four more nurses would be required. Dr. Valintine had told them that the present hospital wa« good for another tea

[ years. The operating theatre at Nelson was, in the speaker's opinon, far better I than' the one at Guy's Hospital, which ho had visited- while in London. He was j of opinion that the site near the operat- ' ing theatre .was the best one obtainable. 1 He hoped that the Board would agree with him that a children's ward was necessary. Mr. Lock said that.in face of the doctor's report they would not be wise in building a children's ward. Before they acted further it was only right that the Doctor's report should be placed before th e committee —which--had w : orked up the scheme. In regard to the fact that an increased staff would be necessary, . that was a matter needing careful consideration. He wjas not against, the scheme by any means. He moved that the report be I referred to the Children's Ward Com- ! mittee. j Cr. Hoult took strong exception to | children being placed away by themI selves. He seconded the motion. Mrs. Watson was anxious t-o see the I movement gone on With, but w£>u!d like the report referred to the Child- j I ren's Ward Committee. | The motion was carried unanimously.