TUBERCULOSIS PATIENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16040, 5 October 1915, Page 9

TUBERCULOSIS PATIENTS.

WORK AT SANATORIUM. ~:4 : -': .v ■ -'."■■. ■■■■-- ■„-'■ a .V : '.' ":'-y CLASSIFICATION NEEDED. "'-?■ TBT TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.} ~£ ,". t . Wellington. ( Monday. The number of patients treated ■• during V< the year at the Waikato Sanatorium foru> Consumptives, says the superintendent, :' Dr. , Bernstein, ..in his annual report, was ! 190, while patients discharged during the I year numbered 119. Of the. discharged . patients 46 made a very considerable im- ; _ provement and were fit to go to work -7 again. The rest' were not really, suitable.; : cases for- a sanatorium,' the disease being ; " too advanced. Fifty-two' of them v ; how-> ; .;' ever, were much relieved, and felt /well,--but will only continue to feel well so -long - as they . are allowed to take life easily. Some have returned to work against advice. Twenty-one made only slight improvement, and 10 patients died. .'v*|^ Of course, continues the superintendent, these results cannot be compared with ' those of "sanatoria - who carefully v select their cases. Nobody has been refused ;j admission during the past year, although ; it is regrettable that so many advanced ' cases are still sent here. Many of these,-<;•■ advanced cases should Lave been treated * apart from the sanatorium cases r proper. \; They are practically kept in bed, and are : best treated in wards. - They do not- re- -- quire separate shelters, as this makes it ■-"-• more lonely for them and the administra- ~ tion very difficult. It is important, therefore, that the proper policy of the 7 institution be defined if the institution is .to be kept as a sanatorium proper-* and the patients selected from the standpoint that they can be got fit for work again. The buildings are satisfactory except that j extra wards near, the main building-should ■ j be built to accommodate the male patients • ; at the beginning of their treatment, when j they may be confined to bed. If it is in- | tended "that advanced cases be treated i then still further large wards, quite | separate from the others, are required- " For an illness like tuberculosis, that I requires prolonged treatment, distance i from home for a sanatorium case is no {.objection. In fact, it is an advantage beI cause it is advisable for patients 1 - not to i see too much of their relatives, but for I really advanced cases-it is natural that if ! they have friends or relatives they should be near them. For the intermediate cases a stay in the sanatorium will be of great educative value in teaching them how to live a proper life and to be no danger to the community. I have previously pointed out it is of great importance that a sanatorium should not be too small. The larger the sanatorium, within limits, the more efficient is the treatment and, of course, the more economical." " ". ii'"it