FINANCE OF HOSPITALS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19061, 4 July 1925, Page 12

FINANCE OF HOSPITALS.

RATING SYSTEM CONDEMNED. ALLEGED UNEVEN BURDEN. (by telegraph.—own correspondent. ] THAMES. Friday. The system under which the public hospitals are financed came in for strong criticism afc a meeting of the Thames County Council. The Thames Hospital Board asked for payment of £925, and called attention to the section of the Act which decided the rate of interest at 7 per cent, on unpaid instalments. Accompanying the requests was a statement of the receipts and expenditure of the board for 1925-26. ■ ' The chairman condemned the system under which the hospitals were financed. The counties, ho said, were asked to find increasingly large amounts and he thought it wis time a halt was called. The hospital , -tte should be an individual rate, and equ'dly distributed, whereas the rate amounts were based on the size of a man's holding. Frequently men with large holdings were poorer than peopla with small areas. Furthermore, if the county failed to get the rate money the board demanded 7 per cent, interest until the full amount of the levy was paid. Mr. Cribb said he was informed that a list of persons who had not paid their hospital fees had not been available to the council. He thought it was about time the board sued for nnpaid fees. Mr. McCormick moved that a stronglyworded protest be forwarded to the county member of the Hospital Board and this was carried.