DISMISSED IN HASTE

NZ Truth, Issue 1200, 29 November 1928, Page 8

DISMISSED IN HASTE

Reinstated At Board's Leisure, Miss Blackie Is Hospital Nurse Again

EVIL OF DELEGATING POWER TO A COMMITTEE

THAT members of boards and councils should be -willing to delegate their authority, and their interest m the public weal, so readily, indicates either that they are failing m an appreciation of the duty they owe their fellow-citizens, or that they are lax, or lazy, m their attention to their obligations. However that may or may not be, the Auckland Hospital Board would appear to have suddenly realized their responsibilities on Tuesday, November 20, when the question of the dismissal of , Nurse Blackie was brought up for ■ discussion. For on that afternoon practically every member of the board gave voice to a protest against such drastic and sweeping punishment being meted out to a young nurse on the threshold of her career for her first known offence. That the Board had delegated their powers m the matter to a select — very select — committee was not disputed, but several members of the board stated that they had done so under a misapprehension, and they had not thought, so they announced, that the girl would be summarily dismissed. That was not what they had intended. Chairman Wallace said that Nurse Blackie ' had been dismissed m the interests of discipline. , It was the only course open. Since her dismissal the nurse had written to the board. Wallace read her letter to the meeting.

In her letter Nurse Blackie, among other things, admitted that she might have acted with a certain amount of indiscretion, but she had not intended any harm, and if she had addressed the prisoner as "Hullo, Old Chap," the ' phrase was not unduly familiar, as she could not address him as "dear." While he had been m the hospital he had been vcVy helpful m the scullery, and had done ail he could to lighten the\ work of the nurses, who had been working short-handed. Though she had thought of sending him a pair of slippers she had finally sent him only a: packet of cigarettes, not having sufficient "funds to buy a pair of slippers, which she had thought of sending him. The nurse did not deny that she had returned to her quarters late one night, when she had been with others to' a birthday party at the Dorothy Tea Rooms. That the chocks had been taken out of her window was also admitted, but that was done for reasonK of ventilation as. the room got so little air. When her offence of the letter to the prisoner was discovered, she had seen the matron and expressed her regrets, but it would appear that she had not met with a very pleasing reception. When she was "sacked" she had. no money with the exception of 7/6, and had not yet received her pay, five weeks' salary being due to her. But for friends she would have been m : a serious position, added Nurse Blackie, m her letter. . The first to express his disapproval of the committee's stringent action was S. J. Haruutt. • He said that the girl had been treated m a very harsh manner. Aftef M. J. Coyle had expressed his agreement with the previous speaker,

(From "N.Z. Truths* Special Auckland Representative.) Whatever there may be behind the dismissal of Nurse E* A. Blackie, of the Auckland Hospital, and whatever may be said of the subsequent action of the majority of the members of the Hospital Board m hearing 1 the girl's side of the case and reinstating her after she had been dismissed by a committee, which was composed of the chairman (W. Wallace), Dr. Maguire, and Miss Taylor, the matron of the hospital, the affair demonstrates the evil of members of a board delegating their powers and authority to a small committee. There is far too much committee power m operation throughout this Dominion, and it is responsible for a vast amount of dissatisfaction among those to whom boards and councils are answer : able.

the Chairman announced that the nurse had admitted the truth of every-thing-to Dr. Maguire, and, added the Chairman, "there are other matters which have not been let out to the press." ■'-> While admitting 1 that the board were not free from the blame, M. J. Savage said he thought the punishment pretty severe. The girl should have been given an opportunity to " state her case. She had the right o£ appeal, and so far as he was' concerned, he wouldn't care if 500 regulations were broken so long as justice was done. If there was more m the matter than had been told the board, then they were, entitled to know. Neither then nor at any later period of the discussion did Chairman Wallace enlighten the board as to what the other matters might be, not even when he became somewhat heated towards the end of the discussion. Laing, Rowe, Dempsey and Potter, all m varying degrees, supported Harbutt. The only person who took, up the opposite attitude 'was one of Nurse Blackie's own sex, Mrs. Kidd, who considered that if such conduct wag allowed to go on unchecked, all discipline would go by the board, and it would be impossible to keep a hold on the staff. Laing drove a shrewd 6ne : home-.u when he said that it was nowadays said that people should do all they could m the way of uplift for prisoners, and if a nursewrote a proper sort of letter he did not see that it was their business. The only thing she should be punished for was coming m late. In rouly to Coyle, Mrs. Kidd admitted that the girl should be heard, and Harbutt expressed an opinion that she should have been heard before she was dismissed.

Coyle thought that It should have been the matron's duty to suspend the girl, and though she had this power sne never exercised it. So far as was known, there was no charge against the girl's moral character, yet by the action that had been taken she Avas to be blighted for ever. I£ Nurse Blackie had said something about the matron being soft, there was nothing to say whether she might not have meant soft-hearted and not softheaded as alleged. That ninety per cent, of the nurses were m Nurse Blackie's favor over the matter was the opinion of Rowe. With shots being fired at him from every angle o f the board room, Chairman Wallace rose to defend the action of the committee. He spoke of discipline and "going soft." He mentioned that the girl's real, offence was taking the chocks out of her window to get another girl m /who had been refused leave. "If you don't back up yotir matron, it's good-bye to discipline," he added. Speaking o f a visit of inspection he had made m the company of Mrs. Kidd, the chairman said the former member of the board had pointed out to him a room where marks had been made by nurses climbing m through the windows and over the maids' beds. "What was done to those girls?" asked Coyle. "I didn't hear," replied the chairman. When the discussion had proceeded for about an hour, the atmosphere became somewhat heated, and "Wallace said; "I won't act on the committee again." Later he admitted that Nurse Blackie had never "been on the mat" for coming m late.

"We want better regulations," announced Harbutt, m regard to the nurses' hours of leave. "The regulations are so stringent that the nurses are incited to break them. . The hour of return should be extended to 11 p.m., arid then, if they are broken, take drastic steps." To this the chairman retorted that the hour of return to quarters had been extended to 10.30 p.m., which gave the nurses plenty of time to reach the hospital after the pictures. Some members of the board wanted to know if Wallace had seen the letter the girl had written to the prisoner. They were told that he had not done so; only Dr. Maguire had seen It. . Potter moved a motion finally that Nurse Blackie should be heard; the press to be admitted. This, after being seconded by Laing, was carried without dissent. The chairman with some heat ' said he did not intend to be present. Not until the motion had been carried, did Dr. Maguire rise to say anything-, but at this period he atood up, and biMng off his words he aaid that the board had given the committee authority to dismiss the girl. She was not to be given the opportunity to resign. They had acted m accordance with the authority vested m them. To this Harbutt replied that such

Letter Destroyed

action was most un-British, and that the board had misunderstood the whole motion. "'lt's a most extraordinary position," concluded the medical superintendent. The chairman: If. you're going to let tha matron and superintendent down, you're going to have no control. The chairman added that girls were out up to 2, 3, and 4 a.m., and the board were m the position of parents to the staff. "Is the rule giving everyone the right to appeal null and void?" asked Rowe. Wallace replied: "No." "Should the girl have been dismissed unheard?" asked Coyle. Wallace replied: "No; I don't say so.-' The board met again on Monday night, when Nurse Blackie explained her side of the case. As a result, the motion dismissing her was rescinded, and i-;. was unanimously decided to reinstate her on condition that she apologized to the matron. i It seems remarkable that the board whose duty it is to take a vital interest m the conduct and management of the hospital, should allow the nurse's case to be dealt with without making any effort to see the letter she wrote to the prisoner. ■ Surely they • should have so far exercised their rights before they delegated them to a very autocratic trio. The reason the letter was not seen by the board before they, empowered the committee to . act, is that there was not a copy of the letter to display. Nurse Blackie had destroyed the original, and if the prison authorities had a copy, which has yet to be proved, they might have committed a breach of rules m handing it to the chairman. ' i