SPECIAL INTERVIEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10428, 28 April 1897, Page 3

SPECIAL INTERVIEWS.

HOSPITAL MATTERS.

THE TYPHOID WARD.

DIFFICULTIES WITH NURSES. As was intimated yesterday matters at the Hospital do not appear to be, in some respects, in an altogether satisfactory condition, and considerable alarm was felt at tbe statement made to the Charitable Aid Board on Monday, that the typhoid hospital was unsanitary, and was " saturated with fever germs." That the fever hospital left much to be desired was known. Id fact the Board had asked the honorary medical staff to report upon it. The gentlemen composing this body met and replied that they were willing to cooperate with Dr. Baldwin, the medical superintendent in drawing up a report. But none of the members of the Board, and certainly none of the public expected such a bombshell as 'saturated with germs.' The well-nigh chronic difficulties with the nurses were bad enough, but that the typhoid ward should be in the condition stated, concerned the public so directly that a Hekai.d representative waited upon a medical gentleman who knows the fever ward thoroughly, and is fully competent to speak of it; members of the Board were also seen to ascertain what in the way of remedy could be applied. THE SATURATION' THEORY. " What is meant by saturated with germs asked the gentleman referred to, whose disinclination to talcs part in a possible controversy led to his stipulating that his name be not published. " Typhoid germs do not fly upward in the air. The fact of the matter is that five years ago it was known that the subsoil was tainted through the rinsings of the linen used by typhoid patients having leaked. Really, therefore, the evil baß been of long standing. When first discovered attention was drawn to this, and it was supposed it had been attended to. When the outbreak occurred a year ago the question of the drains cropped up; then it was found things were as they had been four years before. I suppose the House Committee had had so much else to attend to that they had lout sight of the matter. However, the defective drainage was remedied soon after Dr. Baldwin found it out."

" Is the building otherwises suitable one for the purpose to which it is put?" " No, It was run up in a great hurry during a typhoid epidemic some years ago. When erected it was found there was no chimney, and then when the nurses gut their patients in, the question was where was the lavatory accommodation? This eventually was supplied. Then the heating accommodation had to be attended to, and four or five years ago two extra chimneys were put in. Now, however, in winter time it is impossible to keep the temperature up, during the night, much above 50 degrees. The ward is not up to date at all.

"Then work there must have been carried on at a great disadvantage " At very great disadvantage during the past year. So many of the nurses were laid up with typhoid a year ago that the regular organisation of nursing was upset. Taking all into consideration, J think the nurses have done very well. It certainly is not > lie best thing for either nurses or patients that young nurses should be put into the fever ward, but that rests entirely with the management, and there being a sufficiency of nurses."

" What about nurses refusing to go back to the hospital ?" "The question of the nurses is one entirely for the management. I do not know as a fact that they wont go, bub I do know very many have gone back, though perhaps nob a sufficient number. Certainly the quality of those going in for nursing is improving." "Reverting to the wod building— you think it lias lived its life ? Is the proper thing to pull it down?" "To burn it down might be a very good thing, but it would be a groat waste of money. Let all desirable alterations be made."

"And what do you think would be re-1 quired to put it in a proper state ?" " I am not in a position to say," was the reply. " We, and by that 1 mean medical men generally, have not taken much interest in tho management affairs of the hospital for the last 18 months. You must not ask me to interfere in the medical superintendent's duties. Speaking generally, however, not only of our hospital, but others, I think the Government should take over the hospitals in the same way as they have the asylums. Practically Dr. Macgregor controls the whole asylum system; he has very slight | hold on the hospital system, and I think it would be better if the two were alike.

THE NURSING DIFFICULTY. One of the oldest members of the Charitable Aid Board, and one who has filled the chair on several occasions, is Mr. Bollard, M.H.R., who was also seen by a Herald

representative. _ ( " From the medical reports published in t yesterday's Herald, it appears that the ( Hospital nursing staff contains a larger i proportion of comparatively inexperienced | nurses than should, in the interests of the < patients and all concerned, bo the case; j in fact, it has been said that applicants for i admission as nurses have actually been placed in the fever ward during their three months of trial. Is such the case, Mr. Bollard," queried our representative "The statement is perfectly true, I am i sorry to say," replied that gentleman, "but I I might say on behalf of tho Board that | under the existing circumstances, we could : not do other than we have. You see there i has been sickness in the staff, and worse still quite a number of our more experienced nurses have resigned, and we have been unable to fill the vacancies with suitable substitutes. In fact we have gone to the length of offering salaries at tho rate of two guineas per week for trained nurses, whereas the usual salary is £45 per annum; but all without result. Even those who were formerly in our employ at the lesser salary refuse to come back at the advanced rate; though it is a well-known fact that they could not earn better, and probably not as good, money outside. This has compelled us to take on those seeking employment, and, as stated, place them in positions for which they are not fitted. Of course these novioes have been under the supervision of experienced and tried member! of the staff." " What do you mean when you use the 'under the exietiug circumstances V They give the impression that there must be somo reason known to the members of the Board why the nurses should leave the Board's employ and rofuse to return, even with the additional inducement held out, " Well yos, there is, in my opinion, a reason," said Mr. Bollard, somewhat hesitatingly. " But I am not quite prepared to go into that just at present; perhaps 1 might be at liberty to go further into the matter in the course of a week or two. The nursing staff has not been altogether the happy family that it should be. Mr. Bollard was then asked if the proposal to shorten the hours of labour of the nursing staff had his support. " Most certainly it has," he replied. 'I am quite in sympathy with any practicable echeine for shortening the hours of attendance of the nurses in the wards. But of course when going into this question we must not overlook that all important essential, ways and means. Outsiders find it very easy to advocate the shortening of tho hours of labour, and pour out their sympathy for the nurees, who I, and I might say all my brother members on the Board, do not hesitate to admit are in many instances overworked. But then there is the other side of the question to be considered, and when you come to touch the pockets of the host of outside sympathisers, the tune is an . entirely different one. if anything is done, they most assuredly will have to pub their hands in their pockets. As you. might have gathered from the estimate of expenditure prepared for the ensuing twelve months, the Hospital and Charitable Aid , Board is already some £400 behind in their ' receipts, and when it comes to adding to their staff, the Board will be compelled to increase their levy on local bodies ; an item that is already looked upon in most quarters as excessive. But m far as I can see it will ' have to be done, and to keep the expenses ! down as much as possible I would advocate for the present a modified scheme, whereby ' the Board might employ, say,' four "or five ' additional nurses, whose duty it would be ! to relieve those of the staff upon whom the bulk of the work falls; at the moo time

1 allowing those who have lighter tasks to work the full time as at present. This would bring relief in the meantime." "Do you concur with the medical theory advanced that the fever wards are saturated with typhoid germs " No, I can hardly say I do; yet, as I cannot claim a very intimate knowledge with these matters, it hardly becomes me to call into question the report. But what makes me so sceptical is the fact that the medical superintendent previous to the date upon which ha exploded this bomb in our midst gave not the slightest hint of such a state of affairs; reports were always of a most favourable nature. Then again, it might be said that •very precaution against the lurking germ has been taken by fumigating the wards at regular intervals and taking all other prescribed and necessary steps to prevent their becoming saturated, while privatte enquiries on my part have elicited the fact that the medical fraternity of Auckland are by no means unanimous on this theory; in fact, several of those whose opinion I have asked entirely flout the idea."