NO CHANGE

NZ Truth, Issue 1203, 20 December 1928, Page 6

NO CHANGE

Routine Hospital Reply

CHILD PATIENTS

A proposal^ submitted to the Christchurch Hospital Board by Mrs. Elizabeth McCombs will receive the approbation of all parents of children whdhave been or who are to be inmates of hospitals, and is worthy of consideration by controlling authorities throughout* the Dominion. ■ • . .

lyiRS. McCOMBS proposes that a iVI "written report should be made available for the information of parents inquiring after the progress of child patients. • There is probably no greater, champion of the afflicted children and the nurses m the Dominion than. Mrs. M.cCombs, and. while a section of ; the board of which she is a member regard her as' a stormy - petrel, .sine has the interests of the young sufferers sincerely at heart. Those who. read recently m "N.Z. Truth" of the tragic circumstances surrounding tho death m the Christchurch public hospital of baby Noeline .Tohnston are able to reflect on the possible fate of any child which is unfortunate enough to have to spend some of its days m hospital. • Parents visiting their children m some public hospitals have formed the impression that interest on the part of the staff m the progress of patients is' greatly subordinated to polished floors, clean bed linen and a spick and span outward appearance. And there is very little solace for anguished parents pf child patients m the daily, replyto enquiry: "Condition just the same." Noeline Johnston's parents were told that her condition was just the same on each day of , the fifty odd days she spent m the hospital, and' even the same reply was given oh the eve of her father removing the suffering mite to his own home, a living skeleton. In certain townships m Wales the hospital authorities post a daily bulletin oh the hospital gates, stating the condition of all the serious cases. While it is not suggested that a similar arrangement should be introduced m New Zealand hospitals, the time has arrived when parents of little patients should demand definite information regarding the condition of their children. With little extra expenae, and probably without addition to the clerical staffs, , written reports could be compiled daily, to be made available to enquirers. Th/ present system of bowing and scraping under sufferance to officialdom, only to fail to penetrate the cloak of secrecy which is so successfully used to conceal the real truth concerning the condition of hospital inmates, must not be tolerated any further. The people who pay the money m an endeavor to maintain a high standard of public health have been for too long toasted on the grill of, bureaucratic expediency.