INQUIRY SOUGHT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22585, 31 May 1935, Page 13

INQUIRY SOUGHT

HOSPITAL BOARD AFFAIRS A UNANIMOUS DECISION “IN THE BEST INTERESTS” In terms of a resolution brought before the Otago Hospital Board at its meeting last night by Mr F. Jones, the Government is to be asked ,to set up a con: mittee of inquiry for the purpose of in vestigating and reporting on the administration of the board from 1928 until the present time. The moving of the resolution was the sequel to certain preelection utterances of Mr Jones, and complete unanimity prevailed in the board concerning the decision to call for the inquiry. EXHAUSTIVE INQUIRY The question was raised when Mr Jones moved—“ That the Government be asked to set up a committee of inquiry representative of the Health and Audit Departments for the purpose of investigating and reporting on the administration of the board from 1928 till the present day, such report to cover the following headings and any further that are deemed necessary:— 1. —Employees. (a) Salaries. (b) Wages. (c) Control. (d) Conditions. 2. —Stores. (a) Purchase. (b) Control. (c) Handling. (d) Tendering. (o) Prices. • (f) Distribution. The chairman (Mr J. W. Dove) : Don’t you thinb it would be much better to give notice of motion to that effect? We should have a chance to peruse the whole thing. Mr Jones: Do you object to a committee of inquiry? If so, you will throw this out. Continuing,. Mr Jones said that a great deal of publicity had been given recently to the matter of hospital stores, and he cculd see no point in delar' ig it any further. The sooner the committee was set up the better. Concerning the board’s employees, he said there had been some difficulty during the past few years in connection with their control. For instance, a certain amount of control had been taken away from the medical superintendent and placed in the hands of the controller of stores. The chairman: No, the secretary.

Mr Jones; Yes, but the secretary has other duties which prevent him from getting round the various institutions, and his deputy is the controller of stores. The chairman: Officially you never place the controller of stores in charge. Speaking of the working conditions of the employees, Mr Jones said it had been found that in the kitchen at Wakari the cook and two girls had only half a day off per week. That had since been rectified, but it was only by chance that it had been found out, and there might be similar conditions prevailing at other institutions controlled by the board. If the committee of inquiry could improve the conditions for the employees in any way it would be beneficial. TAGGED BALANCE SHEET A great deal of trouble had been experienced with the stores smce 1931, said Mr Jones. In that year the balance sheet was tagged by the Auditor-general, but that fact had not been stated in the copies of the balance sheet sent out to local bodies. There had been a huge consumption of certain lines of stores from 1928 onwards, although economies had since been effected. It might be asked why the Government should be asked to intervene, but the Government was vitally’ interested, since it had to pay practically 50 per cent, of the board’s expenditure. An officer of the Department of Health had visited the Dunedin Hospital in 1931, but unfortunately he had not been able to make a report. If a committee of inquiry were set up, people should be given an opportunity to state their grievances. Certain firms in the city, for instance, were handling the bulk of the board’s business, while there were other firms which contended that they could sell as cheaply as, or even more cheaply than, those that were receiving the business. The matter of tenders, also, was one that might be investigated. “ I believe,” he said, that the fact that another Labour man has been sent to the board was due to the desire of the public for better administration.” Concluding, Mr Jones said that a letter from one of the staff officers dealing with an important matter of hospital stores had never come before the board. ‘•Those who believe that things have been as they should be,” he said. ‘ will welcome the inquiry, and if I have done wron®' I will have to take the blame. The inquiry, however, will show whether the board’s administration has been of the best.” , Dr Ncwlunds stated that if the resolution was in order he would be quite willing to second it. “I don’t agree, of course, with a good deal Mr Jones has said,” he added. “No board can maintain that its administration is perfect, but I am quite in agreement that u the Government thinks this worth while we should welcome an inquiry into'the running of our institution and the central management. Concerning Mr Jones’s statement about the letter not coming before the board, I understood that Tt was before the House Committee.” Mr Jones: No. Dr Newlands: I believe it was, and the matter was remedied in conformity with the tone of the letter, and for that reason it was not thought necessary to read it. I second the motion. Mr M. Silverstone expressed the opinion that it would be in the best interests of the board to have the matter investigated. The question was, Had there been gross mismanagement somewhere? He did not believe that anything wrong that had occurred had been done with the connivance of any member of the board, but could it be said that the general public held that opinion? The chairman: There will always be people to say that. Mr Silverstone: People begin to have some doubts as to the wisdom of the board, but if what I believe is correct an investigation must be favourable to the members of the board. Mr A. F. Quelch also said he was of opinion that an inquiry would be in the best interests of all concerned. There was a section of the commercial community which was not satisfied with the board, but he thought that applied not only to the Hospital Board. If an inquiry took place he thought an opportunity should be given to those people to express their views. “I think it is incumbent on the board to have an open inquiry,” he said. “ We’ll let the public see we’ve nothing to be afraid of. If the board does this in a manner that will give confidence to traders in the city there will be no difficulty on the.l

committee’s part in bringing down a finding that will direct us, if any fault is found, how we should act in the future.” "NOT ANTAGONISTIC" “ I am not antagonistic to the proposal,” stated the chairman. “ I thought we would not have heard of this tonight, but that it would have been deferred for several months, when, if the board was not satisfied, something could be done. Where human nature is concerned, there will be failings, but I am confident that an inquiry would be in favour of the administration of the hoard. An' answer has been given to everything Mr Jones has said to-night, but an inquiry will' undoubtedly be in the best interests of all concerned.” In reply to Dr Newlands’s statement that the letter referred to had come before the House Committee, Mr Jones tendered a direct negative. It was admitted, he said, that the letter had been received from the superintendent and handed on to the controller of stores for a report, but it had not come before the committee again. Another importan J letter had shared the same fate. Mr Jones’s motion was carried unanimously.