HOSPITAL BOARD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22352, 25 February 1936, Page 10

HOSPITAL BOARD

"FUNCTIONS NOT USURPED" STATEMENT BY AUXILIARY Exception has been taken, by the Auckland Hospital Auxiliary to a remark reported to have been made by Dr. J. P. Hastings at last week's meeting of the Auckland Hospital Board that the functions of the hospital were being usurped by the auxiliary. In a statement made yesterday, tho president of the auxiliary, Mrs. E. A. Kidd, and the hon. treasurer, Mrs. M. Campbell, said they wished to challenge this remark and give it an emphatic denial. When the hospital auxiliary was formed, they continued, it was realised that there was a great need for such an organisation to assist necessitous cases in the hospital and infirmary and their families, apart from what the board could do. So many of these cases, it was stated, were forced to seek assistance from the hospital Relief Committee, but this help only kept body and soul together. The board's limited list of groceries did not include the many extra comforts and necessities required by sick people v These the auxiliary had made a practice of supplying. Transport of out-patients to and from the hospital was another feature of the auxiliary's work. The personal contact of tho auxiliary's investigating committee, whereby patients were assured of the organisation's interest, allayed unnecessary worry and helped considerably toward his or her comfort and recovery. Hospital staffs, besides patients and their dependants, were continually expressing their appreciation of tho auxiliary's work, the statement concluded. Therefore, it was felt that tho auxiliary had a definite contribution to make and it denied the accusation that it was usurping the functions of tho board.