THE OYAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 1913. THE HOSPITAL AND CHARITABLE AID BOARD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15748, 26 April 1913, Page 8

THE OYAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 1913. THE HOSPITAL AND CHARITABLE AID BOARD.

The heavy increase in tho expenditure on hospital and charitable aid is, it seems, exciting a good deal of concern in some parts of the dominion. There is no outcry on the subject at the present time in Otago, even although the rates for charitable aid must, especially in the country districts, bo pressing somewhat severely upon many people. The expenditure by the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board has . certainly increased enormously in recent years. The figures for the latest year of all havo not yet been made public, but for 1911-12 the expenditure, exclusive of the outlay upon capital acoount, was £41,484 and for tho preceding year it was £38,077. The point, however, which impresses the mind of the community on the subject is that it is exceedingly difficult to attempt to oconomise in hospital expenditure -without involving a risk of tho impairment of tho efficiency of the hospital institutions. If it is tho desire of the public that it shall have hospitals con-' ducted on modern lines and equipped with

tho latest appliances, so that the patients may receive the benefit of the best treatment which it is practicable to provide for them—and such, it may be assumed, is its desire—then, necessarily, any appreciable reduction in the expenditure on these institutions is not to be looked for. Nor can there be any wish on the part of the public that, the expenditure upon outdoor relief—much though this form of charitable aid may, in its application to particular cases, be disliked—shall be cut down to parsimonious limits. The system is one of which we must make tho best, .and the community must trust to the discretion of those to whom it confides the administration of outdoor relief to see that thero is no avoidable abuse and that no encouragement is given to tho sturdy beggar. The expenses of administration in the Otago hospital district certainly, however, seem to be. high, and it will bo necessary on the part of the board, when newly constituted nest week, as indeed is necessary on the part of every public body, to exercise a vigilant 6-upervision/ over its finances in order that any tendency towards extravagance may be' rigidly checked. It appears from the reports that were submitted at tho last meeting of the Hospital Board that the average cost of maintenance and administration peT occupied bed in the Dunedin Hospital last year was £9 5s 4d less than in.tho previous year. It> may be fairly inferred that this reduction is due to the fact that there was a larger mimbeT of patients under treatment last year and that tho average stay of each of these in the institution was slightly longer. A reduction in the average cost of maintenance of patients in the Sanatorium may dcrubtless bo attributed

to tho same cause, while, cm the other hand, a reduction in the number ( of patients who were received in the Maternity Hospital may be said to account in part for an increase of over £214 ft the average maintenance oharge. There was a greater number of inmato3 in the Benevolent Institution List year than in tho previous year, but the average duration of the stay of each individual was considerably less. The one circumstance probably, in the language of the mathematician, cancelled the other, and the average cost of maintenance per occupied bed showed an increase of £1 7s 4d.

, These are considerations which may not greatly assist the electors in tho choice of the candidates upon whom they shall bestow their support on Wednesday nest. They are not asked to express their opinion upon any question of policy on the part of the Board. They must be influenced in their voting simply by their estimate of the merits'; and by their judgment of the trustworthiness, of the dates. Their decision on this point must, however, be affected by the conclusions at which they ,arrive upon the question oi the wisdom of including women and medical practitioners among their representatives. The twelve candidates for the City of Dunedin include two women and two doctors. Ono of tho latter is, and the other has been, a member of tho honorary medical staff of the hospital. For the past three years, women have been co-opted as members of' advisory committees of tho Board, and medical men, including a representative of the honorary staff, have been co-opted a-s members of the Hospital Committee. This arrangement has, it is generally admitted, worked satisfactorily, and the question, whether it might not bo advantageously extended 6o that women and medical practitioners should sit on the Board as direct representatives of the electors and exercise all the privileges of membership, is one that must Teceive the consideration of tho electors before they record their votes on Wednesday next. It is difficult to see why, irrespective alto- ■ gether of the merits of the candidates, there should be any objection to the presence either of women or of medical practitioners on the Board. The whole subject o! hospital and charitable aid is one in which the women of the community are keenly interested and in respect of which the advice of women with the knowledge, the experience, and the good judgment of thosa who are seeking election to the Board should be of high value. The electors might fairly entertain doubts about the qualifications of the average woman or even of the woman 1 of more than ordinary intelligence to. sit as a member of the City Council or of th 9 Harbour Board or of the Drainage Board. But the claim that women are peculiarly fitted to serve on a Board which manages the hospitals and administers the charitable aid of the is not one that is to be lightly rejected, and it will be rather surprising if the electors do not by their votes declare that, a leavehing of the male element on the Board of over a dozen members by the election,of sruch women as Mrs 'Lindo Ferguson and Mrs Jackson is desirable. The argument in favour of the direct representation of tho medical profession oil the Board is obvious. Many questions arise in connection with the administration of hospital affairs upon which it is important that the lay members of the Board should the skilled advice of the practitioner. It may be said that that advico is bow obtainable. Bo it is to the extent that the Board rightly seeks the guidance of the medical superintendent of the hospital and of the honorary staff on many points. But between the position of a consultant and that Of a person responsible for shaping the policy of the Board there is a vast gap, which would bo bridged by tne presence of a medical practitioner on the Board.