HOSPITAL DISPUTE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22351, 24 February 1936, Page 8

HOSPITAL DISPUTE

GKEYMOUTH TROUBLE RESIGNATION OF STAFF BOARD'S ADMINISTRATION [BY TELEGRArH —OWN CORRESPONDENT] GREYMOUTH, Saturday The medical superintendent, the matron, six sisters and one staff nurse all resigned this week from the Grey River Hospital, Greymouth. The position was discussed at a meeting of the board this morning, at which the chairman, Mr. R. McTaggart, said he was sure the trouble was engineered from outside the hospital. He advised the board members to go to the electors and ask for the public opinion on whether they were fit and proper persons to belong to the board, and said he was satisfied some of the board members were not. A full meeting of the board was held to-night to deal with the resignations. The chairman said a sub-committee bad been set up to bring down a report on the administration of the institution, but the inquiry had not been completed. The position was becoming alarming, and he felt that they were going from bad to worse. It was a repetition of what the board had had two years ago, and was also similar to the trouble at Waihi. There was nothing wrong with the hospital internally, he said. There was far more efficiency than ever before and there were no complaints from the patients. He suggested that the board members should resign. People would be surprised at the things that were done in the hospital, not by members of the staff, but by board members themselves. In a joint letter, the six sisters who resigned, asked the board to refrain from requesting them to appear to discuss the matter, and said with the present conditions they felt they could not carry on. Mr. J. B. Kent said he considered he was wasting his time and intended to resign his position on the board. Mr. F. -Boustridge moved that each of the sisters should be written to requesting an explanation of the resignation, and, if nothing was forthcoming, the board should accept the resignations. Mr. A. Mosley seconded the motion. The chairman moved an amendment that the sisters and superintendent should be asked to withdraw their resignations. He felt that the sisters had a grievance in that the word of one nurse was taken before that of all the sisters in the institution. Mr. Kent seconded the amendment. The motion was carried by six votes to four and the board decided to meet on Tuesday night to give the sisters an opportunity to forward explanations. Dr. J. W Bridgman, the medical superintendent, said he would not at present make any statement.