THE HOSPITAL INQUIRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19412, 21 August 1926, Page 14

THE HOSPITAL INQUIRY.

COMPLETION OF EVIDENCE. HONORARY STAFF'S VIEWS. CO-OPERATION WITH THE BOARD DIRECT REPRESENTATION URGED. The hearing of evidence at the Auckland Hospital inquiry was completed yesterday, when several members of the honorary medical staff of the hospital were heard. The commission adjourned until nine o'clock this morning, when counsel will give their final addresses. The commissioner, Mr. A. Gray, K.C., said he had two communications from members of the honorary staff of the hospital in response to a circular to all members, dealing with alleged grievances of the staff. One of the letters was from Dr. Neil McDougall, statiDg:—"l have been honorary radiologist to the Auckland Hospital for the last ten years. During that time my relations with the boaxd in all matters pertaining to my department have been of the most cordial kind. I have no recollection of ever having been refused anything in the way of apparatus, !X-ray material, or staff assistance, to enable the work of the department to be carried on with efficiency. When the building of the Wallace Wards was contemplated I was consulted by the architect and assisted him in drawing up the plan of the new X-ray department. "More recently in conference with the chairman of the board and the medical superintendent, I supervised the ordering of the whole of the new X-ray installation. This plant is not surpassed in any modern hospital I have visited. I have only just returned from a two-months' sojourn in Australia, where I saw the best hospitals in Sydney and Melbourne, and in consequence I have nothing but praise for the Wallace Wards " The other letter was from Dr. G. L. who later gave evidence. Representation Question. The first witness called was Dr. A. G. Talbot, chairman .of the honorary medical staff. Ho said he had been a member of the staff for the past 11 years. The laundry affected the light of the operating theatre very little. It would not be true to say there was no co-ordination between the honorary staff and the board. However, the present arrangement was not quite what the staff wanted. If members had suggestions they took them to the superintendent, who conveyed them to the board. While they had every confidence in the superintendent, they thought it would be more beneficial to the hospital if the staff had direct representation.

They thought it a fault in the system that the honorary staff which embraced a good deal of expert knowledge, should not be consulted more frequently. . One of the ■ things that could be criticised at the hospital was the lack of protection between the different wards. Mr. A, H. Johnstone, counsel for the Hospital Board: Are you aware that this matter is at present engaging the attention of the board?—l believe it is. Is there any ground for saying the honorary staff deplores the arrangement of new buildings ?—Some members may have individual opinions. I have, heard men say some buildings were unnecessarily costly. The. tiles in the Wallace block for instance. Are you aware that many hospitals in England have tiied walls ?—Yes, I know that. The Commissioner: In what way do you suggest there might be closer cooperation between the honorary staff and the board?—lf we had the right to send a representative to the board, we might get in closer touch with matters. Has that proposal ever been made?— Not that I know of. Witness said he knew of no blunders that had been perpetrated .through lack of co-operation. • Confidence in the Board.

Dr. E. H. B. Milsom, president of the Auckland branch of the British Medical Association; and a'member of the honorary staff, said , the staff was Well satisfied with the administration of the hospital. Thn question of better' protection for patients between wards was now receiving the attention of the board. If the honorary staff had made- reasonable requests to the board, they had always gone through. The medical profession as a whole had every confidence in the board and a resolution to that effect was recently Carried at- a meeting of the Auckland branch of the association.

Mr. • Johnstone: Do you; find anything radically wrong in the present administration?— Witness: No, I do not. ■ The Commissioner: Do you consider there was any reasonable foundation' for articles published about the hospital ? No. '' Witness said there never was a better feeling between the staff and the board than existed at present.. At this stage the commission' adjourned until tha afternoon to enable the commissioner and counsel to inspect the Dominion Laundry Company's premises, . Lilt at Wallace Wards. Dr. Cawkwell, in evidence, said he did not think one lift was sufficient for the Wallace Wards because infected material from the post-mortem room and infectious diseases room might be carried in the lift and there was a possibility of eye cases and other cases being infected. 1 If there wa another lift it could be confined to laboratory work. Witness disclaimed ever having made the suggestion that if the board made as big a bungle of the infectious diseases ward as it did of the Wallace wards and laundry, it might as well leave it alone. He thought the present method of the chairman of the honorary staff making representations to the board through the superintendent Was a good one: He also thought the honorary staff had been overlooked in the matter of new buildings. To the Commissioner: It would .have been easy to have made a complaint if desired.

Witness said he had no fault to find with the new building, but thought the honorary staff should have been shown the plans. - • Shutting out of Light. Mr. Carrick Robertson, visiting honorary surgeon at the hospital, said there was no doubt in .his mind that the laundry shut out some light from the operating theatre. The loss of light did not interfere with work, but it was not as good as it was before:It seemed a bad thing that patients had to be removed from the operating theatre to wards across open spaces. However, he had statistics prepared, and there was not one' case of a cold reported. By arrangement. with the superintendent, serious cases were now removed from the operating theatre to a ward just opposite. In reply to the commissioner, witness said there was something: lacking in the co-operation between the honorary staff and the board. There was not the best machinery for co-ordination. He had sugthe staff should have direct representation on the board, but he knew .the board did not favour that. The staff meetings were supposed to discuss things about the hospital; but somehow they did not seem to get anywhere. Doctors were "such an individualistic sort of crowd,"

and did not seem to arrive at finality about anything. (Laughter.) He suggested that three members of the honorary staff should' be appointed to act with the superintendent in making representations. The Commissioner: Would it be possible for the staff to pass a resolution to that effect ?—Witness: Of course that is only my suggestion. Inspection of Plans. Witness thought there should be better machinery by which members of the staff should see plans of proposed buildings and alterations. Mr. Johnstone: Have you heard of the proposal to erect a new surgical ward be> tween tho Costley block and the. main building ?—No. If such a building were erected do you consider it would get over the main difficulty ?—Oh, yes. Dr. W. N. Abbott, a member of the honorary staff, said the Wallace block contained "fine wards, beautifully equipped. The building was not extravagantly equipped in comparison with such buildings in Australia. It struck him that the lift accommodation was not sufficient. Another lift would be desirable, to servo the laboratory on the top floor. Witness objected very strongly to the present method of taking patients out of the operating theatre into the open on trolleys to the wards. This could be overcome by building a theatre near the old building. To the Commissioner: If the board started out with a crystallised idea of what it wanted in the Wallace block, it might have got more for its money. Witness said he would net say the Wallace ward was perfect, but there was nothing to deplore about it. The honorary staff was not consulted by tho board as a whole in regard to plans for the Wallace block. Replacing Wooden Wards. The Commissioner: Have you anything else to say regarding the charges ?—Yes, I have one axe to grind in the matter of wooden wards. They were run up some time ago when there was an outbreak of typhoid fever in Auckland, and one of them is still in use. It is entirely unsuitable. The Commissioner: That is hardly within my scope. I am here to inquire into charges of extravagance. In reply to Mr. Ward, who appeared with Mr. Johnstone for the Hospital Board, witness said it would well repay the board to erect a new ward in place of the wooden one. Dr. E. Roberton, honorary physician at the hospital from 1890 to 1923, gave evidence about relations between the beard and the staff during the past 15 years. In 1923 he was not satisfied with the state of affairs at the hospital and "got out." There was at that time no proper co-ordination between the board and the staff. The Architect's Foe. Mr. Leary, for the New Zealand Institute of Architects, submitted that the remuneration of 5 per cent, paid by the board to Mr. Allsop, its architect, was just and proper. The usual remuneration was. per cent,, but the present arrangement with the board .dated back a number of years. Counsel also submitted that the suggestion that the board should have a permanent architect would not be advisable because no really good architect would give up private practice to take on permanent employment. Then again, while the board had passed through a busy building period, this could not go on, and a salaried man might have little to do. With regard to the suggestion of the Public Works < Department drafting plans, he: submitted there would soon be a sort of departmentalism about the plans. . , " Mr. Meredith, counsel for Mr. Somorville, secretary to the board, then "asked the commissioner, what he proposed to do about finishing the. business. Counsel did not think Mr. Gray would be able to catch his train to Wellington that nigh';. The Commissioner: I have given up all hope of that. It was decided to resume at nine o'clock this morning for the final addresses.