TREATING THE SICK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22475, 20 July 1936, Page 11

TREATING THE SICK

OUT-PATIENT SYSTEM TRIAL IN POVERTY BAY [by telegraph OWN correspondent] GISBORNE, Sunday A decision to expend £l5O upon a trial period of out-patient treatment for indigent sick lias been mad© bv the Cook Hospital Board. The decision follows the proposal made three months ago by Dr. H. Goulding Rice, who said certain advantages would be gained by arranging with the medical profession in Gisborne for domiciliary treatment designed to prevent the advancement of illnesses to the acute stages. The idea underlying the proposal, as explained by Dr. Rice, was to encourage sick people to submit themselves to treatment in the early stages of their complaints, domiciliary visits being provided in order to overcome the usual reluctance of indigent people to seek treatment by medical men for fear of incurring accounts which they could not hope to meet. Dr. Rice said much work for indigent people had been done in the past by doctors in Gisborne, without charge. By promoting a scheme under which there would ■ be no sense of financial obligation between people genuinely unable to pay and their doctors it should be possible to remove a great deal of hardship and at the same time check illnesses in their incipient stages.