HOSPITAL BOARD SCENE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16483, 8 March 1917, Page 6

HOSPITAL BOARD SCENE.

1 MEMBERS AT LOGGERHEADS. > ■■. OUT-PATIENTS' MEDICINE. r Titeiie was a stormy scene at last night's i meeting of tho Auckland Hospital and . Charitable Aid Board, heated words pass- , in between two of the members—Messrs. P. J. Nerheny and P. M./Mackay. The , matter under discussion at the time was a. communication received from the conciliation commissioner, Mr. T. Haxlc Giles, in connection with the chemists' i dispute, the parties in which were recently before him. The board had applied through its house-manager, Captain E. W. Thomas, to bo exempted from being made parties to the dispute, and it was , in this connection that Mr. Giles wrote. The letter stated that before granting exemption to the board the commissioner would require an assurance that the board would discontinue supplying out-patients with medicine from the hospital dispen--1 sary at a price leaving a small margin of " profit, and would in future only sell medi- ■ cine to such patients from its city dispen- ' sary. • The chairman, Mr. M. J.. Coyle, ex- ' pressed the opinion that it would be in ' the interests of the hospital to do as Mr. Gile 3 suggested. It had been -minted out that at the hospital dispensary medicine I was charged fcr at the rate of Is per ' I bottle, whereas at the city dispensary the ' contractors to tho board were only charg'l ing lOd per bottle. He moved : That in ! future all patients requiring medicine ' I after leaving the hospital must apply to : j the Charitable Aid Committee for an ' i order for it at the city dispensary." ': Tho motion was seconded by Mr. ' I Mackay, who said that the objection be- ' fore the conciliation council to tho hos- » pita] dispensary charge of Is per bottle ■ had b;en raised by the assessors for the j assistants. The latter argued that in • j making the charge the hospital was com- - peting with the chemists. Mr. E. 11. Potter said he thought the chemists had ben treated fairly by the board, and had made a great mistake in raising this point. Mr. Nerheny strongly opposed the proposal to cease selling medicine from ihe hospital dispensary. It would mean, he ; declared, that patients who had left the ! institution, in order to give up their beds i to worse cases, would have to go to the I Charitable Aid Committee. Persona able I to pay the hospital fee would resent having to do that. j Passage-at-Arms Occurs. ! Mr. Mackay: The chemists' assistants raised the objection, j Mr. Nerheny: Oh they were put up to ! it. We are not children. i Mr. Mackay: You ought not to make ' such an insinuation. If it had not been i for your house-manager nothing would , have been heard of this. | Mr. Nerheny, heatedly: That's a lie. The Chairman: Gentleman, order please. I Mr. J. Rowe said the board should not : be a party to the award, as it might mean j endless trouble later on. Mr. Wallace's Amendment. Mr. Wallace agreed with the views of Mr. Nerheny. Only destitute persons, Ihe said, applied to the Charitable Aid Committee for medicine. Those out-pati- < ents obtaining their medicine at the hospital were not destitute, but would be ranked as such if they had to go to the Charitable Aid Committee. [He moved as an amendment, " That ; a committee, comprising the chairI man, Messrs. Nerheny and Rutherford, i wait upon Mr. Giles with the view of devising means of giving effect to the i views of the board." ! Mr. Rutherford seconded the amendI ment. ! Mr. G. Knight opposed a stigma being , put upon the out-patients. He said he was surprised that Mr. Giles should attempt to dictate to the board, which had the right, if it so liked, to dispense its medicine gratis. He would sooner do that j than be dictated to by the chemists' assistants. (Hear, hear.) The chairman withdrew his motion in favour of the amendment. Trouble Breaks Out Again. Mr. Mackay reiterated that the assistants had raised the objection. "I was trying to explain," he said, "when I was called a liar. 1 resent that." Mr. Nerheny: I said it was a lie to state that Captain Thomas was responsible for the trouble, and I say it again. Mr. Mackay (indignantly): I look to tho chairman to protect me and to see that the debate is carried on in a respectful manner. The Amendment Is Carried. The chairman said Mr. Nerheny's remark was not a right one to make, and expressed regret at the scene. Mr. Nerheny, however, repeated his statement, whereupon Mr. Mackay called upon him to withdraw the expression. After some further argument the amendment was carried. Tho chairman and Captain Thomas then explained that the latter, when before the Conciliation Council, had stated, that the charge of Is at the hospital dispensary was for the bottle. This was a mere figuro of speech. After another passage between the principal disputants the discussion was dropped.