THE AUCKLAND HOSPITAL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21627, 23 April 1932, Page 12

THE AUCKLAND HOSPITAL

CONDITIONS OF NURSES LABOUR CRITICISM REBUTTED. (Pee United Press Association.) AUCKLAND, April 22. “ 1 regret exceedingly that Mr Richaids has seen fit to make such a, statement xegarding the Auckland Hospital, said Mi W. Wallace, chairman of the board, in referring to Mr A. S. Richards s allegations in the House last night. “ The board’s position is difficult enough at present, and such statements only help to create a spirit of unrest and annoyance amongst the staff. We have fought for years for an eight-hour day, and we „ot i\ eventually, and we stick to it except fn special cases and when nurses are undertaking special theatre training. In mv opinion, nurses who are not willing to undertake extra duties when needed are not worthy to be members of the noble profession, and are not worth their salt as nurses. During the epidemic in 1918, when half the hospital staff was down, we had nurses volunteering for duty when they were scarcely able to move about. The same spirit prevails to-day. _ I Mr Wallace said that no complaints had been received about the food, though the nurses had ample opportunity to make representations if they desired to do so. He also stated that Mr Richards’s daughter was not a qualified sister, but a fourth-year probationer.

Charges that the nurses in the Auckland hospitals were working long hours were made in the House of Representatives by Mr A. S. Richards (Roskill) during the debate on the clause in the Adjustment Bill relative to reduced grants to local bodies. Mr Richards declared that nurses wore working 10 to 11 hours in the Auckland Hospital. His own daughter was a qualified sister in the operating theatre, and she had been wording 12 hours a day. Her cheque for last month was £4 11s Od. Mr Richards further alleged that the food given to the staff at the Auckland Hospital was a disgrace