WAITAKI HOSPITAL BOARD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21244, 27 January 1931, Page 6

WAITAKI HOSPITAL BOARD.

TO THE EDITOB.

Siß,—The reply given by Mr MTnnes to Mr Rutherford’s question concerning the Waitaki Hospital Board and patieots at Waipiata at Friday s meeting of the Wai taki P County Council was, to my mm d , unsatisfactory. The “notice of motion at the November meeting of the board was given as the result of e , olal circumstances, as followsol ... from the Waipiata Sanatorium Committee that there were several beds7 a l a . l U° i . male patients; (2) advice that the Wai taki Hospital Board was the only amo dated board with a male waiting list, and (3) advice from our secretary that one patient in our annex was willing to leave the institution at his °wn risk and sign a document accordingly, rather thaji wait longer for admission to Waipiata. Taking those three facts into consideration, and not forgetting the financial stringency, of which I am as fully aware as any other member of the board, I con sidered that our course was clear—viz., to send forward one or two of those patients who had long been waiting admission to Waipiata," and withhold the forwarding of patients who had not been so long waiting list, if such action were necessary to keep the board within its estimates (I say “if necessary, and I will deal with this point later). , It is needless for me to go over the facts, so well known to everyone to-day, that the treatment of tuberculosis in the incipient stage is vitai. Whde g every credit to our local doctors for the very excellent work they are doing m our local institution, yet we must admit that the fretting and mental anguish suffered bv patients on the waiting list is not conducive to early recovery Our ratepayers should not forget that the T.B. patient in a large majority of cases is a charge on the community, whether in our own institution in Oamaru or at Waipiata. Now. here is the point, and I deal with the n necessary” above referred to, whether it is better to give the patient the specialist treatment at Waipiata at a cost of 7s per day, with the almost sure and certain hope of an early recovery, or, as an alternative, retain the patient in Oamaru at a cost of 9s per day, which, if hot paid, .is a direct charge on the ratepayers, and must be finally “written off”?. I maintain that had the Waitaki Hospital Board taken advantage of the position as shown at the November meeting, it would not only have been acting in a humanitarian manner towards those who, unfortunately, meantime cannot help themselves, but also in the best interest of the ratepayers whom they represent. In conclusion, with reference to the figures quoted by Mr M’lnnes, two at least out of the 13 patients at present in Waipiata are paying full fees, so that the board is supporting its regular quota of 11 patients only. lam dealing strictly with the figures quoted at the meeting of the Waitaki County Council.—l am, etc., John C. Kikkness. Oamaru, January 26.