HOSPITAL EXPENDITURE

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 9958, 30 April 1918, Page 3

HOSPITAL EXPENDITURE

PROTEST BY PBTONE COUNCIL,

AVhen the Hospital Board’s estimates and levy for the current year were under consideration ‘by the Petone Council last evening, a copy' of which had been forwarded for that purpose, the Mayor (Mr J. \V. MoEwan), who is a member of the board, gave some interesting data. During hi s remarks Mr McEwan said that the board’s estimate, exclusive of expenditure out of loan upon tho new fever hospitals, etc., had made it necessary to demand the sum of £9OOO from the local bodies of the various districts. Petone’a share would amount to A 425, which would increase the levy of last year from A 1075 to ,£ISOO. The explanation given by the board was that o.wing to the severance of the Horowhenua district the increase was made necesasry. This, Mr McEwan stated, did not fully cover the position, as practically the only loss sustained was the subsidy paid by the Government upon the levies of the Horowhenua County, Levin Borough and Otnki Town Board. This subsidy amounted to approximately £IBOO, and the balance (£7200) was made up entirely of expenditure in connection with the hospital. To save going into detail the most effective way to' tackle the question as to whether the hospital expenditure was extravagant was to compare the Wellington hospital with other large hospitals as far as expenditure was concerned. Taking Dunedin hospital fqr the purpose of comparison, it was found that the cost of provisions, surgery and dispensary, domestics and establishment, salaries and wages for the year 1915 amounted to £B6 per occupied bed, and for the year ending March 31st, 1917, it was .£B4! per occupied bed, a reduction of £2.

The cost at the Wellington hospital per occupied bed was £BO in 1911, £99 in 1915, in 1917 .£lls, and £l6O for 1918.

The hospital ' expenditure for the twelve months which ended on March 31st, 1918, was:—Ordinary, ,£53,412; McCarthy Home, 46628; consumptives, .€819; total, ,£5-1,589. The total number of in-patients were :—General hospital, 1030; military hospital, 556; total, 4626. Taking the average stay*of n patient as 27 days the number of occupied beds worked out at 343, which gave the expenditure as being £l6O per occupied bed. The estimated expenditure for the year ending March 31st, 1919, on last year’s expenditure, will work out at £58,015, which would increase the cost to £169 per occupied bed. The facts submitted, he contended, wore sufficient to justify the council protesting against the proposed apportionment on the ground that the estimates of the board are excessive in amount. It was evident that an exhaustive inquiry into the hospital expenditure was necessary, and he moved—- “ That a protest bo lodged under section 42 of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Institutions Act, against the apportionment, on the ground estimates of ho board are excessive." The motion was carried unanimously.