The N.Z. Times FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1907. A PAINFUL CASE

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 6313, 13 September 1907, Page 4

The N.Z. Times

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1907. A PAINFUL CASE

WITH WHICH 18 ISOMNaiMB TEX “ WILUNBMM nrespßirscKT.” zms

It is difficult to conceive a more painful \ case than that of a patient who is suffering from a disease which ho has persuaded himself is curable, and who is yet unable to procure admittance to a hospital specially set aside for the cure ot the disease from which he suffers. Such a case has lately been under' consideration by the Benevolent Trustees and the Hospital Board, and the case of this patient is mad© additionally' hard by the fadt that several doctors of repute have pronounced, his case to be one of 'those which may reasonably look for permanent advantage from treatment in the Otaki Sanatorium. W 6 feel, as every humane person in the community must • feel, that a case like this is one that calls for the utmost consideration and sympathy. And yet we have no hesitation* in saying that the Hospital Board, before whom the case came up on Wednesday for consideration, acted with complete fidelity to the important trust that is vested in them when they adopted the seemingly harsh course of refusing to this sufferer admittance to the sanatorium under their jurisdiction. There are two stages of consumption, an earlier, in which recovery is possible, and a later stage, in which retardment and alleviation of the disease are the only results that can be expected, even under the most skilful treatment. The sanatorium at Otaki was erected for patients in the first-mentioned stage, and it is a special element in the success of such a sanatorium that all possible means should be taken to exclude from it all cases that are,in the later and less hopeful stage. The sanatorium at Otaki has been placed in charge of a medical superintendent in whom, we understand, the Hospital Board have the most complete confidence, and who, though it is perhaps early days to speak, has so far given every promise of making the sanatorium all that the Board wish it to be. The superintendent of such an institution is in a very responsible position, seeing that he has under his charge some *two dozen cases of phthisis in that early stag© which affords a fair hope of recovery; and it is his duty to see that nothing is done that may retard or endanger the recovery of those for whose health he is answerable. One of the most essential conditions for the success of the establishment is that confirmed and hopeless eases should bo excluded. Since human judgment is fallible, it must necessarily be, w© should suppose, that some such cases will now and then gain admission. But since the medical man in chprge is.the man on whom devolves the responsibility, on his iudn-

merit, and on his alone, it should depend whether any particular case is admitted or not admitted to the sanatorium. We consider, therefore, that the Hospital Board would have stultified their choice of a superintendent and would have failed in their duty to a servant in whom they profess to have the utmost confidence if they had allowed his opinion to be overridden by the opinion of other medical men, however positive. If the Board are going to accept opinions from outside authorities who are not responsible for the success of the institution, they may give up at once all thought of securing the conditions which are considered so necessary in a sanatorium for the cure of consumption. It is not a pleasant duty to have to refuse to a sufferer a boon which means to him, as he thinks, life and health; and it is one of tho most pressing of tho charitable obligations which lie upon the community to provide suitable accommodation elsewhere for those who are denied admission to tho Otaki Sanatorium. This is done by moans of shelters at tho Wellington Hospital. Seventeen such cases aro already accommodated, and the framework is up for two further wards, each capable of accommodating four cases, so that jiresontly twenty-five cases altogether can bo treated at the hospital. Whilst, however, wo commend the Board for the firmness with which they have discharged an unpleasant duty, wo cannot concur with the opinions of, certain members of tho Board that any preference should he given to patients merely because they are unable to pay for their support. Wo should certainly not give preference to a sufferer because he is able to pay. But, on the other hand, it would bo very unfair to a patient to exclude him, merely because he is well-to-do, from an institution specially organised for cases such as his. It is quite right that patients should pay according to their means, and provided they do this the sufferer who is too poor to pay can make no good claim to be preferred, life and health being possessions of equal importance to rich and poor. If, however, there wore many sufferers able to pay, it might be a matter for consideration whether a special sanatorium for such patients should not bo erected. But this is probably a matter that will have to be left to private enterprise.