HOSPITAL AND CHARITABLE HOMES

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1648, 30 September 1903, Page 79 (Supplement)

HOSPITAL AND CHARITABLE HOMES

INSPECTOR-GENERAL’S REPORT.

The Inspector-General’s annual report on the hospitals and charitable institutions of the colony Avas presented to Parliament last week.

Dr MacGregor states: —The total expenditure on charitable aid in Nbav Zealand in 1301 was £79,873; in 1902, <£88,848; for the year ending the ‘ 31st March 1803, it amounted to £93,158. The amount distributed in outdoor relief for the year ending the 31st March, 1992, av as £38,934; for the year ending the 31st March, 1903, it'amounted to £43,421. Ip the four larger towns the expenditure on outdoor relief alone was as follows: Auckland Charitable Aid Board, £4923; Christchurch Charitable Aid Board, £7356;* Dunedin Benevolent Trust, £6048; Wellington Benevolent Trusty £-1685. The Wellington Benevolent Trust increased its outdoor relief during the year by £1305. It is a fact accepted by all careful students of social science that pauperism groAvs by giving. TooKfreely administered outdoor relief merely ! intensifies the evil its administrators desire t° mitigate. Of the charitable institutions for old and destitute persona, the Ohiro Home, Wellington, the Jubilee Home, Christchurch, and

Tuarangi, Ashburton, are the most satisfactory; the food, clothing, cleanliness and comfort of the inmates all that could be wished. At the Ohiro Horn© Mr and Mrs Purvis are very successful managers, and the transformation in food, clothing and comfort effected here within the last few years is admirable. There is nothing fresh to report about the Home for the Aged Needy, Wellington; Mr and Mrs Mackenzie are very kind to the old people. The Nurses Registration Act has* now been in force for a year and a half, says the report, and. is working smoothly. There are 320 names of nurses on the register. Twenty-nine nurses . entered as candidates for the examination held in May last, and twenty-seven of these passed and are duly registered. Such an A.ct is necessary owing to the advance of scientific surgery and progress of medical knowledge. It protects medical men, and also the public, from the increasing number of unqualified women' who pose as nurses, and who too often prove a real danger in critical illness and in operations. It is interesting to note that within the last few months five of the American States —North Carolina, New York, Illinois, Virginia and New Jersey—have foiloAved the lead of this colony, and passed Acts for the State registration of duly qualified nurses. The Nurses Registration Act of New Zealand uses no compulsion, except that of enlightened self-interest on the part of the nurses themselves, and it is becoming daily more apparent that by the silent pressure of this luav the nursing profession of New Zealand will be effectively organised. The Avholc Avorking of it has been intrusted to Mrs Grace' Neill, and the tact and shift by Avliieh she has carried out all the arrangements, often complicated' and difficult, as regards the examinations, have earned my. highest appreciation and gratitude. These biannual examinations have been moulded on the system of the New Zealand University. The examiners hav'e no knowledge of the name nor. hospital of the candidates Avhose papers they are examining, and great care has been taken in selecting as examiners medical men Avho have had special knowledge of the training of nurses. The •examination in practical Avorlc of each nurse is undertaken by a piedical man and a registered nurse jointly.

At the Wellington Hospital the number of patients' on 31st March, 1902, ay as 161, and admitted during the year 2093; total unuer treatment 2260; discharged, 1904; died 159; remaining on 31st March, 1903, 197. Sex—l3s2 males, 908 females. The Inspector-General remarks of the Wellington Hospital: — l “ The great defect here, and one that I hope may be only temporary, is overcrowding. It is not right that stretchers should be introduced into the Avards at night, over and above the number of filled beds. However, a start has at last been made Avith the building of the Nurses’ Home, and Avhen that is ready for occupation two large AA r ards Avill be set free fos the use of patients. During the year Miss Payne resigned from the matronship, upon her appointmnt to a similar post at Rotorua Sanatorium. Miss Payne’s resignation Avas a great loss to the Hospital. She Avas a good administrator and with Dr EAvart had done admirable Avork in advancing and improving the nursing department. Miss Pettitt has succeeded Miss Payne as matron, The Wellington out-patient department entails heavy work on the re-' si dent medical officer, and the’'appointment of Dr Elliott as assistant medical officer will, I hope, relieve Dr Ewart. The individual cases last year numbered 2804, with 14,046 attendances. Dunedin Hospital comes next, with 1748 individual casea and 4710 attendances.”

With reference to other institutions, the Inspector-General states:

Mastertm Hospital: The Avell-known defects of this hospital, 'so often reported on by me, it seems impossible to remedy because of the see-saw policy of the local bodies. I inspected the neAV hospital site, and though not, in my opinion, equal to the one I formerly approved, still it will be a good site for a hospital when connected with local drainage and water supply. It consists of five or six acres of good land, resting on a shingle subsail.” Otaki Hopital: “Ak extremely Avelldesigned and AA'-ell-finished hospital, excepting that the wards are too small in proportion to the administrative centre. These wards would need extension if the existence of the institution could be justified. In consultation with Mr Mcßeath, the acting member of the local committee, it Avas agreed that the swamp to the immediate east of the hospital ought to be drained.’'

Pallia tu a Hospital: ‘’‘'This is a small hospital "built on a flat piece of land with shingle subsoil some distance to the north of the township, not far from the railway, I was informed by Dr Dawson and some members of the committee that cerainly within twelve months the land would be drained and water laid on. The future of the hospital will depend on whether this promise is kept." Palmerston North Hospital: "Miss Dougherty and her staff are working with thorough efficiency. The. kitchen department is specially to be commended. To provide verandah shelter for patients from the large ward is a problem of difficulty in this hospital. I discussed the matter in all its bearings with the doctors and secretary, and immediate action was to be taken/* ' South Wairarapa Hospital: "A neat new cross-block in brick, roofed wth Marseilles tiles, has been added to this hospital. Mrs Bassett, the matron, is leaving, but her husband, a very capable and useful man, stays. Dr Bey’s attention to his work is all that could he desired. The arrangements with Mr Bassett will be difficult to carry out.** The Levin Memorial Cottage Homo is, says the Inspector-General, a model institution, of its kind; the twenty-five little girls are thoroughly well "mothered** by Miss Ockenden. The Convalescent - Home, Wellington, has lost its admirabe matron. Mrs Butter; her successor is Miss Oakley, and she will doubtless carry on the policy of economy combined with •omforfc and kindliness that has hitherto made this home an example of wise management.