HOSPITAL FEES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3774, 13 July 1926, Page 7

HOSPITAL FEES.

POSITION OF RAILWAY EMPLOYEES. ATTITUDE OF HOSPITAL BOARDS. WELLINGTON, July 6. The question waa lately raised whether the Railways Department is liable for hospital fees incurred by its employees as regards sickness or accident. The department disclaims anv such liability. Any payment of the kind would be really a compassionate allowance, as the members of the Railway Service are taxpayers, have contributed to the maintenance of the hospitals, and are entitled to treatment in them. If a member cannot pay he is in no different position from any other citizen who cannot afford the fees. Replying to the Railway Board statement regarding hospital fees, Mr C. W. Luke, chairman of the Wellington Hospital Board, said that if all the Government Departments, municipal- and other authorities, took up a similar attitude, 00 per cent, of the source of the revenue of the hospitals would be out off. They always looked into every individual case, whether the patient was a member of a Government or municipal department. The department made allowances according to the merits of each case, and no hardship was imposed on anybody not in a position to pay part, or the whole of the account. A very substantial amount was written off in the aggregate every year, amounting to scores of thousands of pounds. Everybody was either a ratepayer, or paid rates through the rent, so the whole community was on exactly the same basis in regard to the matter in question.