WHAT IT COSTS!

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 6179, 10 April 1907, Page 8

WHAT IT COSTS!

HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATION THE CHAIRMAN OF TRUSTEES IN DEFENCE. DR EWART QUOTES FIGURES. Sincu tin; allocation ol contribution:; from locil b'Mkv; for Hospital and , i lia riln bio Aid two at R-ast of Dm liodios liavo li'id soinotliiiig to say in /■..Teronoe to Uni increased levy for iiorpital administration. Whatever :;found:: r.ricli bodies had for protesting •tV.il'sl Iho amount of their oontribution for tli' l current year, the chairman of iho ilosnitvl Trustors (Hon. C. M, Luke, M.L.C.) coiiKidorc.l it wise to /nakc a Ktatcmcnt on the point at the no I'rino of the Hoqiilal Ti nrti'es yesterday. He said Hist unmistakably an impression had hum conveyed that the expenditure in connection with the hospital was inereasinp, unduly, and he had considered it his duly to approach Dr Ewart for a report. ’1 he statement tie hail received showed that Dr Ewart had 20110 carefully into tho matter, and was of such a nature ax to remove the impression that hail been floated. After going into the figure* for tho Coiled Kingdom and .Australia, and comparing them with our figures for last year, the cost of the Wellington 'Hospital—2l(l hods at the rate of C 74 per bed per annum —must be looked upon as a moderate charge. Dr Ewart said they would need from 2 KJ to 250 beds this year, but in his (the speaker's) apinion, it would reai'h the higher houre. What had been lost sight nl ■w7is the fact that Wellington city had taken no Hie care of another branch of the work, altogether in the chronic rases. This had originated in the latHc* of Wellington taking up the matter and. raising funds to erect the building, which was very much to their credit, hot it entailed a heavy annual charge. During the year they had • hud to turn away several deserving cases which undoubtedly ought to be provided for. The Horne accounted for another forty beds. Then, us the result of an agitation organised by Drs Valintino and Newman, funds

(Kulisulisad by tbo G-ovonimcnt) vert' raiswl &> make provision for consumptive ease's. Who should say that that ivas improper work for the Trustees to undertake—to assist in probably alJeviatinu those suffering ones who had l;ee stricken down by that ilc-ease! J The Trustees a ere actnated by the highest feelings of humanity, and they regarded it a sacred duty to provide lor such unfortunate cases. In wo that they took in had little prospect of icccicrv. though there wore a few that might bo well enough in transfer to ihe hospital at Otaki, hut it ’.van iu order to provide against the disease spreading that they had put up the annexes, which accounted fqr another •sixteen both, the ratio of cost being higher iu licit case than in the general hospital, owing to the special diet re--auiied by patients. Notwithstanding these inclusions, tho cost was only £(4 per bed, which was not very high alongside seven hospitals in London, which cost £9O a bed’ and six which cost £BO, while some of tho hospitals in the metropolis cost ovc- £IOO per bed per annum. Tho average cost, for instance, of the Metropolitan Hospital (London) was 5s lOd per day per bed ; 111 some of the provincial hospitals tho -cost amounted to da fitl and 4s 9d por day. It was admitted that there wore Scotch'and Irish hospitals that cost much loss—there was an Irish hospital ns low as 3s 8d a bed, hut in such places there were limited comlorts, and the food had to ho by tho patients or their friends. Tho costs at some of tho English hospitals wore a.s follows: —Nottingham, £7O Iss; Leicester, £B9; Wolverhampton, £6l; Dover ami Exeter, £7l; Sussex. £9O. TJut in these cases the out-patients worn not included in the cost, whereas I,hoy wero in Wellington. There was, continued Mr Luke, another phase of the question- They had to pay higher salaries here than in the Old Country. Hero they paid probationers, whilst at Homo probationers worked for nothing, and in many cases paid a premium—as high, in some Instances, as £SO. Nurses were paid much bettor in tho colony, but ho did not think anyone should attack the salaries, for they were not paid any more than their work warranted. (Hear, hoar). Their nurses, too, only worked eight hours a day, as compared with twelve worked at Homo, so that ■they had to employ more nurses as well as pay higher salaries. Dr Ehvart had supplied some interesting figures relating to the cost of London hospitals, a few of which he would .quote:—St. Bartholomew’s,. 5s 3d per bod per day; Guy’s, 5s 6d; St. Thomas's, 7s Id; St. George’s, 7s 3}d; Mid. •dlesox, Os 3d; St. Mary’s, 5s B}d. (Mr Kirk—What is our cost per day?) The cost at tho Wellington Hospital whs a little over 4a per bed. The London Hospital was free, but the patients Jiad to supply tea, sugar, and a change 'of linen. H they did that here, how much could bo saved? Finally, ho had some interesting figures as to tho cost ■of hospitals in Australia. The Melbourne Hospital cost was £BS 5s per bed per annum"; Sydney, £80: Prince Alfred, £BS 15s: Brisbane, £75 15s; Melbourne (women’s), £99; Adelaide, £6B. So that tho public could sco that tho cost of administration was no moro than for those in Australia. These figures showed that tho statements about extravagance had been made in ignorance, and as someone had quoted Dr Valintine ho would liko to see somo authoritative statement' from Dr Valintine. Mr Luke said that both tho treatment of consumptives and scarlet fever patients at Hie hospital had emanated from the Health Department, and it was tho opinion of the medical .stuff that cases of scarlet fever could bo treated as well in the homo as in tho hospital. With these considerations ho was satisfied that tho staff had brought tlm cost of tho institution down to a minimum.

Mr G. London congratulated tli© chairman on the statement ho had made. Ho drew attention to tho fact that the revenue included £SO per (reek derived from patients, and voiced his belief that tho Trustees sought zealously to protect the public funds. Mr Lee joined with Mr London in congratulating the chairman on the statement, which could not fail to convince tho Borough Councils (Lower Hntt and Eastbourne) which had raised the issue. In the one case—East-bourne—-it was tho first time it had been called on to contribute, and tho .excess in the case of the Hutt was very small. He thought if it wore known ■that tho hospital had during tho past year enlarged its borders, the complaint would not have been made. They wore now charged with the caro of the Consumptive Home and also the Chronic Invalids’ Home, while it cost trifle for the upkeep of the Nurses’ Home, which had cost £15,000. Mr It, C. Kirk drew attention to the number of cases that were treated from outside owing to the superior

medical facilities that wore provided, and also to tho fact that the number of out-uatierUs were much in excess of any oilier hospital in New Zealand.