MATERNITY HOMES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26043, 5 January 1946, Page 4

MATERNITY HOMES

OPERATION STANDARDS LICENSEES CONCERNED Concern has been expressed in many quarters recently regarding the regulations which govern the operation of maternity hospitals in the Dominion and the charge has been laid that because of the refusal of the Health Department liberally to interpret those regulations a number of maternity homes throughout the country are being forced to close down. . Among the regulations which, it is stated, have brought about this state of affairs, is one calling for the provision of running hot water in every bedroom and another limiting the number of patients per bed in one year to 18. These, in particular, are regulations which the licensees of maternity homes consider unreasonable and difficult of fulfilment, in the first instance, by reason of the high cost of plumbing installations and the shortage of labour, and material, and in the second instance because of the heavy and increasing demand for beds. Department’s Viewpoint The anxiety of owners of maternity homes and in medical circles is, however, based largely on a misconception of the Health Department’s viewpoint regarding the operation of maternity hospitals. In the first place, the regulations to which exception is taken are not actually regulations; they are standards set up by the department some two years ago as an ideal to be attained where possible. No licensee of an existing maternity home, provided she or he remains the licensee, is forced to equip a hospital with running hot Water in every bedroom. Where a licence changes hands, however. or when a new hospital is licensed, the department takes steps to see that the standards set up are observed. The purpose of such a decision on the part of the department is clear. The majority of private maternity homes in the Dominion have been in operation for many years and are usually houses converted into hospitals. As such, they have not been, in the past, equipped on modern lines, and they lack many amenities which, although not absolutely necessary in existing homes, are, to say the least, desirable in future hospitals. By demanding that new homes or homes where the licence is changing hands shall be so equipped, the department is, therefore, only endeavouring to raise the standard to a level which should be attained if such institutions are to operate on modern, labour-saving lines. Occupation of Beds The position regarding the number of times a bed shall be occupied in a year is also clear. At the present time, with every maternity hospital operating at full capacity, overcrowding immediately occurs if expectant mothers seek admission before the time notified to the hospital. By specifying a limit of 18 patients per bed, or one and a-half a month, the department is seeking to make provision for the unexpected—the early arrival of a patient—and to prevent over-crowding. • Only by limiting the number of patients can this be done. A number of licensees of maternity homes are reaching the retiring age and are desiring to sell their hospitals. With the change of licence the department requires the alterations mentioned to be made, and this fact, together with the equally difficult problem of staffing, has a tendency to force some homes to close down. The closing down of any maternity hospital at the present time, when births are increasing, is highly undesirable, and if any criticism is to be levelled at the Health Department it is that its policy in certain circumstances may have that effect.