NO ROOM IN HOSPITAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15251, 14 March 1913, Page 8

NO ROOM IN HOSPITAL.

ALL THE WARDS FULL. FORTY PATIENTS WAITING. ALLEGED DELAY OF OPERATION. A discxtssion' in connection with the present crowded condition of the Auckland Hospital took place at the board's meeting yesterday. No remedial measures were adopted, but as the result of a suggestion by Mr. Nerheny that delay occurred in regard to a certain minor operation, an inquiry is to be held. "The hospital is taxed at present to its fullest capacity, and there are no less than 40 people awaiting admission," remarked Dr. Maguire, medical superintendent, in the course of a report. "The surgical wards have been particularly full of late, and frequently there has not been a single unoccupied bed in the accident ward; in fact, on one or two occasions patients suffering from accidents have had to sleep in other wards. A strain is being placed on the medical wards, owing to the number of cases of typhoid fever that have been admitted during the last few weeks. Four cases were taken into the hospital in one day during last week. The total number of patients differing from typhoid fever at present in the hospital is 25, 19 of them being in the male ward. If cases of this fever continue to come in at the rate they have been doing lately, a question of where to put them will arise. To-day (Wednesday) there is not a bed vacant in the male fever ward, and only one in the female fever ward. Tent Accommodation Suggested. " What I should propose doing if the influx of enteric cases continues is to use the observation cottage as a convalescent enteric ward for males. This would relieve No. XI. ward of eight patients, and were this insufficient I would recommend the board to have a large tent erected to accommodate about 20 beds. A great many complaints have been made to me about patients being refused admission on account of no beds being available, and I can only cope with tEe matter by keeping the wards absolutely full all the time. When urgent cases are admitted' I have had on several occasions to sleep children on lounges." Number of Patients Dealt With. Dr. Maguire, in another report, stated that the number of patients in the hospital on March 9 totalled 291, as against «271 a month earlier. The average number of patients dealt with in the last monthly period was 270 per day, but from March 1 to March 10 the average had risen to 286. The chairman remarked that there was not the slightest doubt that the hospital was full, and that many patients were awaiting admission. Patients Who "Board." , Mr. M. J. Coyle: Has nothing been done in regard to the removal of chronic patients ? Is there no place we could put them in, for it seems wrong that these "boarding" patients, for whom we can do nothing, should be taking up beds when there are other people waiting for admission? Cannot some of them be sent to the Costley Home? The Chairman: No 2 we could not do that. i Mr. Coyle: Well, is there no way in which we can secure a temporary building? Mr. Potter : According to Dr. Maguire's recent reports there are only about three of four of these chronic cases in the hospital Mr. Coyle: Dr. Valintine told us that there were about 50 or- 60 of them. Mr. Potter: Dr. Valintine's statement was rash. We now have our'own medical man's report. Subsequently Mr. Potter expressed the opinion that many patients were kept in the hospital for unnecessarily long periods, owing to the fact that surgical cases were delayed. He thought that more, surgeons should be secured, so that the operations might be expedited. Necessary Delays. Dr. Maguire: To operate on patients so soon after their arrival is not advisable. It is always well to allow them a few days. Mr. Potter: It seems to me that some patients are kept waiting too long. That means that they occupy beds that should Be available for others. Dr. Maguire: I don't think so. You see we get a large number of patients from the poorer classes, and as a rule they come here at the last moment. They are usually in a poor state of health, and we have to spend a few days building them up. _ Mr. Coyle: That bears out my contention. If these people wait until the very last moment what is to become of them if they are turned .away ii there is no room? Complaint Regarding Operation. Mr. Nerheny gave an instance of what he characterised as unnecessary delay. He that a man had an accident, whereby a piece of steel became embedded in his finger. He went to the hospital and was told that had he come earlier he would have been operated upon that day, but tha*. as it was he would have to wait for the next operating day, a week ahead. That meant that he was kept waiting about the hospital, taking up Valuable room for a week. Dr. Maguire: I remember the case in question. It was that of a man who got a piece of steel in his arm in the Hamilton district. He went to a doctor, who tried to get it out, but failed. Then he was sent to Hamilton Hospital, where a second attempt failed- The man was then sent on to the Auckland Hospital to be placed under the X-rays. The steel was located, but it was decided that it would not ,be wise to operate on the man, as the wound was somewhat septic. He was, therefore, kept waiting a little over a week so that these conditions might disappear. Mr. Nerheny's Statement. Mr. Nerheny: I cannot allow that to pass, sir, for I know the circumstances too well. This man was never in the Hamilton Hospital. Continuing, Mr. Nerheny explained that the man, whose name he believed was Grant, was a blacksmith in Auckland, who had a piece of steel run into his hand some six months prior to going to a doctor. He went to Hamilton to work, and while there was advised to go to a Hamilton doctor to have the steel removed. He did so, but the doctor had advised him to come on to Auckland to have his hand placed u»der. the X-rays, as the .steel had probably moved from the original place of entry. The steel was located at the hospital, but Grant was kept waiting for a week, Dr. Inglis saying, "If you had come an hour earlier I could have operated upon you, but my next operating day will not be here for a week, so you ; will have to wait." The Chairman: Let us get on with the next business. Mr. Wallace : If Mr. Nerheny's information is correct there should be something done in the matter of securing further surgeons. Bequest for Inquiry Granted. Dr. Maguire : I would ask for an inquiry into the matter. I would welcome investigation, for it is a matter that should be thrashed out. Mr. Potter : I could give you particulars of a similar case. Ultimately it was decided to make an inquiry in regard to the case brought forward, and to have the matter before the board at a later date.