Truth PRIVATE HOSPITALS.

NZ Truth, Issue 88, 23 February 1907, Page 4

Truth

PRIVATE HOSPITALS.

Published Every Satubday Mobning at Luke ' s lane (off Manners* : \ . 9TBEBT), "WELLINGTON, N.Z. SUBSCRIPTION (IN ADVANCE), ISS, PBR ANNUM. SATURDAY, FEBBUAEY 23, 1907.

DREADFUL DISCLOSURES OF CRUELTY, NEGLECT AND INCOMPETENCE. Another Christchurch Scandal.

The Victim ef the Newtewu (Wellisgtra) " Ot spitaE " Dies Thwnth Neglect at a Similar liellhele iii Christchnrch.

• Some time '•• back this paper published a paragraph giving a hrief description of; the experiences of two patients m a Ne#town i "Private. Hospital," where there. were but one pair of, sheets to a bed occupied by two sick women—one convalescent and able' to help her friend and com^ rade— and these had to be washed and dried 'between get up and lie down •; where there was no food to give the "natienls" and no money to buy any half tlie time ; where the sick girl was half starved at all times and that at a stage when her, condition required frequent small meals, of nutriticas and easily digested food; where the "nurse" went out for houirs at a time with a total disregard of what waidue to the sick under her charge ; where, ordered a milk diet, she could noc eveh get milk m her. own cocoa, and where the bedclothes were rtotally insufficient to meet ihe rec|uirenients of the thinblooded, reduced, sick. There was a sequel to that m the Magistrate's Court, , when the keeper of this SHAM "PRIVATE HOSPITAL" had the audacity to sue one of her ill-used, deluded "patients" for an amount she refused to pay over and above her agreement, and, tafteir put- ! ting both to endless trouble and expense fcv frequent remands to enable ithe attendance of witnesses, had the j cask deeded .•■■•in defendant's favor, I with stront< corh^venio by tne Magisi tr-%te, Dr. ? "eAitliur, O.i tne absurdity of occupying the t.m* of fc'p" court, day after day Jind wck fi'jsr week un a c~zo m Whioh flaiatiri bad not a shadow of a hope ot cue--cess. It has had a f'Ttfecr sjqj^l and a tragic one a*id it iE not teo nr'-'ch to say i h vA Vac nc^le^t and starvation c-n:lured by thj ■'V.tie.it" who ! was su»d, i.i tLat f»jlias +T y mockery of ;,a nursing hosTf., a!; l T ewt*y"'r, was m a grea'j measure *A"r.p'\*;sit , e for the I loss of her hf- by •*. tall, re- | mar'cablv !ri_dso:ne young woman of about 23. Yaev conplaiit was bOwJ I troul:'--, r.i.d tho'ip!:, after sl:e left the NfcT/tovn plaoc. sl>c became convalescent, sh; was continually worried by.

the case alluded to hanging over her head so long and when she finally went home to her parents m.. Canterbury it was only to fall sick again, of the same complaint. It really appeared as though SOME MALTGNANT FATE pursued the p;oor creature, which lfed her friends to allow her doctor to place her m a "private hospital" m, Salisburyrstreet, conducted by a woi man who calls herself Nurse Jones, The medical man m the case was Dr. Thacker, and if he does not know of the manner m which this dreadful •'hospital" is conducted, then he is.muah to blame, as it is the duty of a medical man to make himself fully acquaiated with the surround-* ings before recommending, any place as one where patients will receive proper nursing and attention. 'In this case, if he is unaware of the true awfulness of this alleged hospiri tai, then he is the only one whp has ever been connected with it who i^ so regrettably, ignorant. It , will be remembered that m the awful case ot "Nurse" Brown's "private hospital" where a . poor creature gave birth, to a child, utterly alone and. totally neglected, and was , ; FOUND UNCONSCIOUS m the morning, when the one pro--bationer nurse left m the house, woke from the lethargic sleep oM/6 do her simple justice-— exliaustidn, with hrir fine baby boy dead,- strangled by the umbilical cord ; it was also a medical man who had "recommended ' that poor wife expecting motherhood, to go to the horrible, fireless.'&l---j most blanketless and foodless hole, lto be nearly kiiled by cold, neglect, I ait a crisis when the utriiost care is necessary; and hemorrhage. , „ ' yy A similar state of affairs,' with ■"■the exception that it was stimmer and | consequently the sick girl did riot suffer from cold, as did the victim of the awful "Nurse Brown" tragedy, seems to have been, encountered by unfortunate Miss Fahey, • the lady; who met with such dreadful -neglect, m the Newtown "hospital" ahd *#ho had m addition to defeiid an kfction* as described above, when, uiifrer vto Thacker's orders, she entered "Nurse" Jones' "Private Hospital" iii .Salis-bury-street, Christchurpli. The saihe devoted friend who tended the po:0r girl m the Newtown 'den,.' visited her at this place also, when she Could, and did what she could for her; and from her and others comes oun* information on this sorry subject. • This Nurse Jortes is a female Who paints and powder-, and fakes her face till it looks like • . A. MASK- AT A CARNIVAL* This art-Work, changing her nurse's costume four, (times a day, gadding, the streets, and havins. evening parties.'in a houseful of sick and suffering women,, take up all this woman's time, so that she has none to devote to the ' unfortunate creatures; she is supposed to, nurse and tb', see to it that they get' proper 1 attention and diet. As the 'probationers"- she leaves m charge ,of^ the, "hospital during her long absences ; seeiri to he as heartless as this painted Jezebel herself, the poor women lying? helpless and athirst from fever may ring and ring for hours without receiving the slightest attention.' This \vas poor Miss? Fahey 's horrible experience and that of others who complained to her friends and others during her dreadful term under that roof. Ah instance of '' THE BRUTAL NEGLECT of patients m this v den of death ■may *eigiven^ and it will go far to show tke class of she-deVils,whp run the rotten swindle. Miss Fahey <'s friend was called away to Duriedin on business, and before hex departure she went to Salisbury-street .to say Kood-bye ,to her suffering comrade. She found her untended -and unkempt, and washed her and plai'tya her hair and generally made her aa comfortable as circunastancfts would permit. Anyone who lias been bedbound / will understand what a wash and brush-up means td a.. sick person. Well the lady went on her trip and was aWay ten dayk. On hear return she hastened t» her friend's bedside to find heir parched with thirst, with streaming eyes and Outstretched arms m thankful ■■ welcome, and with her hair still m the plait site herself had put' it ten days before, andher face, neck and hands bearing out HER GASPED ASSERTION that they had never been washed since she (her friend) . had Washed them. Can such- devilish, callous^ neglect of a weak, dependent, paying patient be thought possible: Yet it is a fact and the lady is wiliing and anxious to go into the box and depose to v it on oath, if, only Nurse Jones or anybody else who thinks he or she is aggrieved by these horrible disclosures will . be so extreinelv kind and obliging as. tb give her' the chance by taking action .before the courts. Another instance of ctuel callousness and even flat disobedience of her patron, Dr. Thacker's orders, was a case wherein . he ordered that a very weak patient .was ,to have her dry lips and parched, palate moistened at frequent intervals' with' a tcaspoonfal of sherry. She got ho | sherry nor any other moistener and when at the end of* four days THE PAINTED PROPRIETRESS of the death-trap Was asked why ?he had not procured the sherry arid had it administered, j she vacuously, and flippantly replied "Oh, I didn't know where to get it." She knew well enough, where to , get supplies of liquids for her gay patties ! When the friend of Miss Fahey saw the awful state that neglect and wrong treatment had brought her to (Dr. Thacker admitted that her case puzzled him— he did not understandthe symptoms 1 ) she urged the poor thing's relatives to get' Dr. Hamraersly to see her. That gentleman at once diagnosed her''case as ulceration of the bowels . and ordered her removal to a proper nursing home. When her friend and another lady wore soeing to this removal nb one •"onnected with the horrible place f.howed up cither to assist or superintend, but as they half carried THE TOTTERING WRECK of what only a few Weeks ago was a noble speejmen of early womanhood, down the Stairs, a door was opened and the sick girl's account slid along tbe floor to their feet ! . Naturally they let it lie there, foi? their woman's hearts were bursting -with indignation and grief for the friend they could not fail to see *fcas m- a dying state. Dr. Hammcrsly' gave it as his firm opinion that had the'gifl had prober treatment -md suitable diet— not the rough meat and cabbage and the Uke, led to a woman

suffering from ulcerated bowels by the brutes who had her at their mercy and which she could not and her g o od sense told her she should not eat, but milk and preparations thereof— in' short, had he had her case m hand from the first, or even a week sooner, she would, now H walking about a hearty, robust young woman. "But she had been so neglected," he said, "and the disease had had a free hand so long, that he could then do nothing but alleviate her pain." And this fine, tall, . GRAND AND HANDSOME GIRL, who. a couple of months or more ago sat m this office telling of her vile treatment at the Newtown Starvation shop, Wasted away and died— died of brutal neglect and hellish ill-treat-ment, a victim to a horrible, putrid pretence of a "private hospital." Other "patients" of this awful woman, Jones, tell of their dreadful experience, and are itching for a chance to go into the witness-box to do it. A well-to-do farmer, of Cheviot, is one. He was being starved and neglected and left to his own devices and was m a very receptive mood when ali honest housemaid of the place advised him : "You'd better get out of here while you're; able. THEY'RE KILLING 'EM HERE FAST." He took the "hint," secured his clothes, crawled to the scar -and was put down at the public hospital and admitted. He's well and hearty now. He, too, suffered from ulceration of the bowels and was fed on meat and green*-and salts ! He vows they gave him as much as three packets of salts a day and he was reduced to a deadly state of weakness. ; For treatment such as this and practically ho attendance, this bedaubed Jezebel, Jones, charged her victims three guineas a week and jellies and lots of other necessaries were "extras," and then there were the doctor's fees. These absolutely true stories of what may happen to people who ate unfortunate enough to be attended m sickness by a medical man who is m any -wa^ connected with a "private hospital." ,:; together with the "Brown" horror and other painful and shocking disclosures of recent I date, Should be quite sufficient to impel the Government to at once introduce legislation that will enable the proper authorities to cope With this monstrous abuse of a holy work. None more require the tenderest solicitude and care than do the heirless sick, paiifticularly women, and of them most especially, the expectant mother, as m THE BROWN HORROR. Yet here, m th 6 Jones den, there is the testimony of numerous witnesses that helpless Women, unable to rise I from their beds, would ring for an i attendant m vain, Until nature would not further be coerced; arid then they would have to lie for indefiriite periods, m . saturated, or defiled; beds. Nearly all sick people suffer from thirst, for hours, victims of the woman Jones and, her heartless satellites, have to ring 'the unanswered bell till thirst itself becomes a serious menace and the disease is aggravated by the direct additional suffering. No supervision of THESE DREADFUL DEADFALLS, which are springing up all over the colony like mushrooms, until hund* reds of doctors, her£ and also m Australia, are directly interested m sending patients to their harpy "part-ners"~-aud keeping them there as long as possible-^can W tab rigid ;._ and if the Governriient does not dd its duty m this matter, which crie^i aloud for action, then the suffering tieople will make it a feature at the next general election and send men into Parliament pledged to see to it that our sick and travailing womanhood is protected from frauds and reckless adventuresses who exploit their very sufieringjs and sorrows.