HOSPITAL BILL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18049, 24 September 1920, Page 7

HOSPITAL BILL

AGAIN DEBATED,

OTAGO MEMBER'S ADDRESS.

(FitOM Gup. Own Correspondent.) . V.LLLINGION, September 23. J ho interrupUkl debate oil the Hospital and Charitable Aid Ainondniout 1-Jill was resumed in the House this alter-nocii. Atr J. aI. Dickson thought it was regrettable that so long a time had elapsed smco tho report, was brought down, 'j he member for Dunedin Central had mado a veiy convincing speech in moving the amendment, tt ikl he was afraid that lion. im.-mlxTs have now forgotten it. 'The Jn-spewtor-C<enera 1 awl Dr VVyho should have been called, or allowed to appear before the committee. That tliev wei'o not called was quite a sufficient reason why the report should be sent back to the committee. Tire lea.soiLS that actuated them in compiling tnat rexjuest should have been before the committee. Ho had been asked to attend the committee, and thought ho should liavo been allowed to give evidence, but at the instance of. the Minister of Health he was denied a hearing. As a, representative of a largo (h.stri'cfc, ho should have been allowed earlng. J iio members for Bruce and C.utha had been allowed to make a statement, and call evidence. He thought he ' should have been aJlowod to make his statement, although, lie had no evidence to bring beyond letters and telegrams received from local bodies. He would now bring biiore (lie House some of these documents asking him to onpo. e tho Bill. He read letters from the Peninsula" and Tomahawk Road Board, the I'ortobello Read Board, the Mayor of 'Port Chalmers—who said tlio Bill would (heir already heavy charit.a'l' —Waihemo Cduirtv Council, laieiM County Council, the late "Mr A. S. O['bell—who asked him to strongly oppose tho Bill, as the increased levy in his county would ba disastrous, —and the Mosgiel Borough Council. A member had remarked to him. that. Dunedin was up against the country. These letters and telegrams, however, would show that tho greater part of the country was up against the Bill, as well as Dunedin. He read a report of a meeting held oil June 26, 19i3, of delegates from i Clutha, Bruce, and Tuaneka to protest against the levies for hospital and' charitable aid demanded by the Otago Board, imd the little benefit they were getting. The Minister of Public Health seemed to have only one desire—viz., to got his Bill through. No statement wa.s placed before the committee as to 'what provision was to be made for the aged and the indigent in Clutha, tho whole matter was oontined to hospital work; but charitable aid 'was -one of the important functions of siK-h a board. There was no guarantee that this matter would bo attended to. therefore for that reason the Bill | should b:> referred back to the committee for evidence on that point. If no hospital accommodation had been provided in Millon and Balclntha. the retu'-on was that ithad not been, asked for. The member for ' Clutha, hud stated that only 3 per cent, of the eases sent to the Gore Hospital went to Invereargill Hospital. These figures, however were not complete. He. should s-iy how many of the S7 per cent, retained in the loaal hospital died, because they were not nested on the best system. The Minister of Health was a. lawyer, and that should enable him .to put up a good exso on either side; but he had not put up a good case in favour of this Bill. Mr Downie Stewart wished to impress upon the House tha.t the amendment was not a blocking amendment. It had been obvious to tho House that the evidence of Drs Frengley, Wylie, and Makgill should have been heard by the committeo, bccause they wero specialists, under the Minister who had departed from tho ideas and policy of his responsible adviser's. Ho referred to the introduction of the Bill last session, and said that it had only got its second reading through tho courtesy of tho Leader of the Opposition, on the understanding that no further progress with it would be made until evidence from Duncdin was taken on the whole question. Some extraordinary statements had been made by the member for Clutha as to the unanimity of 'the people in the southern part of Now Zealand, in support ot ■ the Bill, but the Bill had tcarcely been introduced in Parliament when members began to be deluged with telegrams indicating violent opposition on the part of local bodies. Later, on the committeo stage it was lost by one vote. There was an impression last year that some injustice had been done to South Otago, but even yesterday further evidence was adduced to show the necessity for Mr Statham's amendment. He referred to the meeting held the other evening at Kaitangata, which showed that even the districts most concerned were divided on the proposal. An Hon. Member: How many were there ? , Mr Stewart: There were 17, and nine voted against the Bill. Mr Edie: "Who called the meeting ? Mr Stewart: I don't know. He wont on to say that such a division of opinion was another reason for referring the Bill Kick to the committee. Dr Thicker interjected that the reason of the Bill was the fact that the member for Clutha had been almost snuffed out at the last election. Mr Stewart: And this is an insurance policy for the next election, but- the premium is too high and there may be a total loss on the policy. Mr Stewart said the real policy of the department was to amalgamate districts instead, of separating them, and then to get more economy in administration. Tlio ultimate result when the Minister got complete control would be that every little village and hamlet would demand a base hospital. If sufficient political pressure was brought to bear they would have their way. Mr Parr: That is nonsense. Mr Stewart : That is all very well, but nobody goes so far as tho man who does not know where he is going. Mr Stewart said ho was astonished at the speech made by the M.nistcr. Ho could- not understand ajiyone letting down his department in t[ie way the Minister did. Sir James Allen, on the other hand, had always loyally stood by liia officers, but tho now Minister stepped into the department with a long-established policy which he threw to tho winds. Ho should at tho very least havo k allowed the officers who established that policy to give ' their views before tho committee and vindicate their position. What the • Minister had done was demoralising to his department. The officers were held up to ridicule in the Legislature by the Minister. He was' astounded ' at the manner in which the Minister had thrown over his officers without giving them a chance to vindicate themselves. "He was puzzled at the attitude of tlie Prime Minister in taking up this Bill, but he had no doubt so many tasks with which t.o cocupy his mind, that perhaps he had hastily promised his support to tho member for Clutha without considering what it would involve. ]f the Bill went through, however, the Minister of Finance would find that a large fund would be required to maintain tlio new institution. Tho Minister should give a . clear indication as to what, his policy was with reference to questions of this sort. Everyone admitted that those outlying districts required some accommodation, but thero was no necessity at all why this could not Iks done without establishing a new dis-' trict. Thero was no- need to set up an elaborate base hospital. The whole argument .of tho Minister wont no further than that certain districts were in need of cot-t-aee hospitals.' Mr Parr: It went further than that. Mr Stewart: As far as I could see the doctors who reported did not go further than that. At ICaitangata they had a cottage hospital already. Mr Malcolm: Which tlr-y don't use. Hon. E. P. Lee: There is nothing at Ba. 1 clutha at all. Mr Stewart: No, they never asked for one. Mr Edie: Oh! Mr Stewart referred to what the board was proposing to do in South Otago,. but this Bill was jeopardising all that.- The Minister's predecessor did not take the slime view. He was ready to subsidise cottage hospitals. Mr Parr: lie asked the people to find the money. Mr Stewart: Tlie Government would have subsidised it pound or pound. But why did not the Minister call upon the Otago Board to supply such hospitals as were needed if that wero his policy. Tlio effect on the Medical School had to be considered, in view of the fact of a probable separation. _ The students of that school had distinguished themselves, and had built up for the school a great reputation; but the prestige of the school was sure to be affected if separation took place. He did not say the school should take precedence ever the interests of patients, but the interests of the students coincided with the interests of the patients. Mr Parr: There are only 200 patients from that district. The Hon. E. P. Lee said if the Ota,-to Board had looked after the interests of the outlying districts thero would not have been tills demand; thero would have been no necessity for a separate district. But in tho past they had not looked after tho interests of these districts, that. wa s the reason ,of the present demand. He was opposing the Bill on tho present occasion, because ho believed tlto right policy was the one that provided for subsidiary hospitals, but

if the board did not do its duty and do it pretty soon , t was tlio last time ho would oppose the Bill Surely it was the duty ol the board to look .about the whole of its territory, and clocido on its own 'initiative what was necessary. It had entirely failed mlI neglected to do its duty in this respect o BalcJutha; but it,had not failed to collect tlio full rates from that territory whilo Dura-din itself was under-valued. "No one taut Balcluthu had had proper treatinent. Even Sir Stewart did not say that, t lev couid not, therefore, be surprised that Jjalelutha had become disgusted with this system and, therefore, had asked for a. separate district. He, himself, did not believe it was in the interests of Clutha to. h'avo a separate district, always provided that Dunedin woul<! do its duty 4 and do it at an early date. He thought that Clutha must in any ease still send its severe cases to Dunedin, where there was a better equipinent than there could be at a Balclutha. hospital; but there should bo something more than a cottage hospital to deal with important cases that might arise there, and where it should not be necessary to send Jo Duncdin at all. It was all very well for hon. gentlemen whose hospitals had got all the revenue from this district to come there and object to tho ]3ill. Mr Siduy: 'Jifao Hospital Board has ijiever iiad a loquest from them. Mr Lee: if it is not going to bo seized or its duty without having a request made, then it is not doing its duty. It should have seen to tho interests of tile whole l ?i' l 'ict it controls. lie felt suro that this Bill, whether it was passed or not, would compel Duncdin to put tlio necessary accommodation at Clutha. lie was guided in this matter by what Dr Barnett had . said— namely, that tho present stato of' affairs was a scandal. That was: That the Duncdin board with its responsibilities had left one part of the district with a largo population in such a state of affairs as could be cnnracteriscd as a disgrace and a scandal, lhe result of this light would ma.ko Duncdin do its duty. He recognised that it was a great thing for the district to te able to send its patients to. Duhedin,' but there were "minor cases which should bo dealt with in the Clutha, and this had been totally ignored by tho boa,rd. 1 Surely tjie Dunedin Board should look roilnd and see what was wanted. It ought to establish the proper accommodation at Clutha. Mr M'Callum asked -if any legitimate deniand from the districts concerned had been ignored. Mr Lee: Dr Barnett says it's a scandaL That's the answer to that. ■ Mr M'Callnm challenged Mr Leo to show from the reports in the newspapers, any complaint that had not been attended to, except the demand for a hospital on the same scale as Dunedin. He said that the plans of the Owaka Hospital were being delayed by the Minister, with tho connivance of the member for Clutha,'and that was stirring up further troublo and opposition to the Dunedin Board. Mr Malcolm: That is absolutely incorrect. Mr M'Callum did not hold to. his statement, in view of this report. He, however, quoted Sir James Allen's opinion, against the proposal in the Bill. He read from Sir J'Y" CS A ll ™' s s r>cech in Hansard saying \ that the Bill would not bo in tho interests of his constituents. Sir James Allen, had fa-ced the electors boldly after making that statement. An Hon. Member: How many did ho poll? Mr M'Callum: He polled very well against an able opponent. The Hon. Mr Parr: What does the present member say? Mr M'Callum: I like the opinion of the able man, and the man of long experience. . M'Callum said jt was evident Mr Malcolm had not the sympathy of his district, because at the last election he had the light of his life. . Mr Malcolm: I was opposed by a man who blamed me for not getting the hospital. iMr M Galium said the policy of the Government should be to stop the multiplicity 0 ' ° r S a n'sati°ns and afford outside : aid. Ihe Hon. Mr Parr: Tlio hon. member has a good hospital in his own district. Mr M Callum complimented the Government on having "gingered up" the Valuation Department in regard to the valuation of Duncdin. He hoped the Government would get back on the Dunedin people; and make them ipay up. Ho urged' his" clansman, the member for Clutha, to ease up a little and sit tight no longer, but put his hand on his heart and bow to the wtil of the majority. •i¥ r J lvel ' ctfc regretted that it was not possible to have tlie evidence of the officiate given before the committee. Tlio chairman Of the board was a country member. Mr Malcolm: Residing in Dunedin. Mi Kellett said that gentleman had como I'i P to vYeJmgton to 'give evidence against the Bill. ° Mr Malcolm: Ho does not represent the districts supporting the Bill. Mr Kellett said he also had copies of re-* solutions passed by local bodies, but he would not read them. ■ Hon. Members: Oh. read them, i'ead them. Mr Kellett read only one, and went on to quote from Dr Barnett's speech at the recent meeting of protest held in Dunedin: ■ Hon. Mr Parr: How many people were' there? Kellett: Oh, I don't know. Quite a hall full. . Mr Malcolm: There were about 50 there out of tne whole of Dunedin.—(Laughter.) Mr Kellett continued to quote Dr Burnett. Mr Malcolm: What did Dr Lindo Ferguson say in reply to that? Mr Kellett: He was not quite eo pessimistic. Mr Malcolm: Ho disagreed with it. Mr Kellett pointed out that the sawmills referred to were £0 miles away from Balclutha, and oven if a hospital were established there it would te difficult to get serious cases to it from tiie mills. He asked what possible chance thera was of poor people in a serious case . getting! 'the proner treatment at a Clutlia hospital. Mr Malcolm: As good, and better than' now. Dr Thaeker rose a few minutes before tho dinner adjournment. Ho said this whole tljinjr was a reflection on the Otago University, on its staff, and on its teaching Otago instead of trying to break up. ought to got closer together. It would be a criminal shame that Ota&o should break up as far as its University and its teaching were concerned. Otago should be Vroud of its Medical School. There should: he subsidiary hospitals in the country districts. ' ' -■ ■ Mr M'Combs said the neglect of the outlyintr districts were not' confined to the Clutha. Lyttelton was neglected in the same way. Mr Parr: Hear, hoar. Too much. ' The Hon. J. A. Ilanan rose to speak as the House was rising for dinner, and the debate was further adjourned.