PUKEORA SANATORIUM

New Zealand Times, Volume XLV, Issue 10450, 1 December 1919, Page 4

PUKEORA SANATORIUM

MEETING OF PATIENTS PENSION"' MATTERS S)IS'CL'BSBD.'*" , A general meeting of the'"patients or tho Pukeora Militaiy Sanatorium, Witi-, pukurau, was hOLd recently, when Brigadier General McUuviu's report to the Minister for Defence ;v.as considered, and a great deua of discussion took place on pension matters. 'it ~ivas -pointed out that tho discharged single pr«hte,,a. patient iu hospital or sanitoiia, " was granted a pension of JC2 ps.r.weefc and tne undischarged single, private" had only his military pay ot iSqa per week. At the present tinie it was possible that a patient on disehargo from hospital might havo his pension reduced if ho was declared fit by '$- medical officer. la tho 01 the patients this course is entirely wrong. A patient on discharge thejix hold shouid automatically bo placed <jn a full pension, equal to a living wage, for a period of twelvo months, thus enabling the benefit derived from, treatment somo hope of becoming peiraanent. At tho present time on discharge from hospital or saiutoria a tuberculous man draws a pension for a period" of throe or six mouths, the amount of which is subject to control by a medical board. On. the expiration 01 that period,tho ex-patient naturally iooks around for employment, and if he is fortunate and obtains a position of a congenial nature in the open air, all well. But,, on tho contrary, shouid the sufferer bo forced to follow a sedentary calling, or any occupation unsuitably or likely in nay way to retard a" complete recovery, the disease regains its former hold,' with ' the -result that the victim either returns to hospital.or becomes a menace-'to the public. ■ .LAND ■ SE'Ii'LEMEiN'T FOR TUBER, , • CTJLAK PATIENTS. It seems a strange tn-ng, it was stated, that- .'tho Govornment has not brought forward a scheme for settling discharged tubercular patients on the land. Among the occupations regarded as eminently* suitable to tubercular men aro those, of orcharding, bee-keeping, poultry farming, gardening, etc. A scheme in which Jhese occupations are embodied was "drawn up and submitted to tha N.Z.B.S-.A. at the lata conference held in Wellington. Votes of thanks woro aocorded the T.M.C.A.. R;d Cross, and various patriotio societies and residents in and around the Hawke's Bay- district- for their great kindness in assisting; in the entertainment of patients. "' ' BHPLY TO GETNERAD McGAVIN'S REPORT. Messrs Fred. J. H. Pirani (chairman) and G. H. McLachlan .(secretary), of the Patients' Welfare Corhtnittee of tho Pukeroa Military- Sanatorium, were instructed by the meeting to reply to General' McGavin's report on the sana. toriurni Their-reply reads as follows: The Director-General of Medical Services .in' Ms report states: "The institution was quite ready in all essentials." Begarding this we wish to state that the only ready on the patients" arrival'--were beds, bedding, which were, and are excellent, and* plenty of fresh air, which. - fortunately is not rationed. Tiie food' submHted* ta.fthe : patients for samo time—after their" aarrivarisvas quite unsuitable and lacked variety. Although of good quality it was suitable only for personam -a healthy condition, namely,''those- engagetf -in-manual labour, or conditions such as obtaining in a training camp. The Welfare Committee,', submitted complaints under this "heading' to Major Short, the officer in charge.. This officer,- in reply, stated that "he thought tho food was all right, I as he' had the same himself and certainly '"eonsicterecf if"* suitable*** On *the committee pointing* <rh.ty fa 5 Major Short that he. w;as a fit man, and that the patients, could not by. any means be classed as fit, the officer ' in chargo could;not but admit that there was soma ground for the complaint. "DIET SHEETS IGNORED." The bed patienta receieved exactly the same; food as the up-patients until this complaints committee was sot up by the patients, and a report forwarded tothe Returned Soldiers/ Association. The diet sheets of bed patients were ignored, owing. to the fact.that .the culinary department were unable to cope with the ijv-oi'k. invol-vc-dj, as the- cooking;-, range was not large, enough,.,'and the number of bed patients had increased, due chiefly to, the unsatisfactory, conditions,prevailing. The whole institution, was •under-Staffed.- rderlies and members of the nursing staff had applied for transfer, and in some cases their applications have ■> been granted. We want to state that a new and larger-range has been installed, also V.A.D.'s have taken over the kitchen, thus to a- greater -extent minimising the complaints regarding food. .-i<..-.-,,. .-. :.- .- :-- -..-,-.,' , ,-MEDICAI/-.COMPORTS.->" ----- Practically there was ,a,lack of medical comforts, such as wines, stout, ttn. This -defect i has ./'.'since-.been i-remedied.-The hot water system-at present in vogue in the,, instntution is-of a temporary nature, and up-patients are quite unable to obtain hot water for the purpose of shaving, washing, and' bathing in the morning: General" MeGavin continues: "I find the patients,' with only two exceptions, happyr i a-fid"'i!ontented. ' All,, except on« stated fley had. no or h suggestions,,.to,, make.".-, :. Regarding', this, none of the patients were aware of tho general's r _yisit,.„,and,.such tras a tour ,of, .inspection,, and .except in rara cases patients were not asked if they had any complaints or suggestions to make.- • -This. is -proved by the fact that the general's' salutation' to such patients that he spoke to was, „"Well, how aro you?" _ Had„ f -the. met the-pa-tients in- a proper manner it 13 quite possiblerithat -.the.i ; number "of .complaints would nave been considerably augmented. The general states that he "recoivßd only two complaints." In regard to this the Director-General of Medical Services surely suffers from absent-minded-ness fox he received;at least.-seven complaints, that we coldjiame. ~. THE COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE. The general continues:—"The following Method has been adopted by the patient! :in this sanatorium: A complaints committee has been formed. Individuals are not allowed to complain, except to this committeee. The committee thon reports the complaints to the Returned Soldiers' Association, .which sends a special committee to investigate and report. The report is then published in.-, tho Press, and so 'the officer in chargo is for tho first time aware of tho complaints. Tho officer in chargo-states'"that he had,-wot heard many complaints before reading tie report in the -papers. A similar method of communicating a series of complaints was adopted on a 'previous occasion." In reply to this, We beg to state that, a committee was set up tho second week after the-arrival of tho patients, about September 20th, and on tho complaints being placed before Major Short, ho asked the„.committee, to. .allow him. twentyfour hours grace before taking fiction. After forty-oignt'hours had elapsed, nnd as nothing had been done, a complaints committee was appointed, a full report drawn up, and forwarded to the Returned Soldiers' jVssociation, this step being doomed nece«sarv owing to the fact that a number of "atients had thjaatened to take action —namely, walk out of tho ftanatorium Unless thero were prompt signs of grievances being rectified. DIRECTOR-GBXKRAJ, CE'NSURED. After'a full report: was formulated and placed-'in "the .hands" of" tlifi Rottrrried Soldiers' Association the coin plaints corn■mittfo resit-ned, and a welfare 'committee van -elected in Its stead to assist in smoothing :ovcr any'difficulties that may

arise in tho future, forward complaints, regarding stoppaso »f pay, allowances, pensions etc.. affecting the interests of natients in tho sanatorium and also on flischarco. ■• o whatover have patients been prevented by tho welfare committne or anv other committee from making complaints direct to tho officer in chaige. It was onlv as a last resource that complaints were forwarded to the • TJeturncd Soldiers' Association. No complaint has been, or will be, forwarded out. of tho institution, at any timo. hoforo being submitted to tho officer in charge. The following motion was carried unanimously by this meeting of the patients:—"That the Director-General of Medical Services be severely censured for " - ~isleadinc .report made to the Jfinfor as published tin Ithc l-Toss of tlie 21sfc inst.. also for allowintr such considerable period In rlnp=c before visiting the sanatorium in order to mnkr himself conversant regarding existing