ST. HELENS HOSPITAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20725, 19 November 1930, Page 10

ST. HELENS HOSPITAL.

The demand for admission to St. Helens Hospital has grown beyond the capacity of the institution and a suggestion has been made by the Director-General of Health that candidates -who cannot be accommodated should be referred to the Hospital Board. Officially, he accepts responsibility only for cases actually booked at St. Helens; preI sumably care will be taken to prevent a recurrence of excessive bookings, such as has recently occurred. His proposal to the Hospital Board has been met with a complete disclaimer of responsibility, preceded by a discussion in which certain members criticised the attitude of the department with unnecessary and indefensible violence. The board entered debatable ground when it asserted that the care of maternity cases is a matter entirely for the Government. That proposition has never been established in either national policy or practice: there are seven State St. Helens Hospitals and 76 public maternity hospitals or maternity wards attached to public hospitals, so that other hospital boards have accepted responsibilities which the Auckland board denies. Nor is it correct to assume that the St Helens institutions were either intended or are suitable for indefinite extension. Their establishment was directly associated with legislation controlling midwives, and their primary purpose was to provide for the training of midwives and maternity nurses. As a corollary, they provide care and attendance at a fixed charge for the "wives of working men," but it is a rash assumption that through them or other institutions the State can undertake to provide for the wives of all working men on the same terms. According to a recent statement by the Minister of Health, the seven hospitals already constitute an annual charge on public funds of £.31,490, including .£IO,OOO for the Auckland one. That amount may be regarded as the cost of training midwives, but unless it can be shown that the training facilities are inadequate, there is no justification for enlarging (he hospitals and aggravating flu: losses. The first step to take is obviously to accept applications only in cases of need commensurate with the low fees charged, so that the accommodation of St. Helens will not he taxed at the expense of the safety and the comfort of the patients. If there is need of further provision at the public expense, the means to lie taken may be determined by temperate consultation between the board and the department. There is little to choose between ratepayers and taxpayers in the spending of public money, and professions of zeal in defence of the former lack conviction when they are accompanied by sweeping declarations of the responsibilities that should be borne, at the expense of 'a!tor, by 'die Government-.