PATEA HOSPITAL

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1062, 20 July 1883, Page 2

PATEA HOSPITAL

What the Inspector says about it. Dr Grabham, the Inspector of Hospitals, has furnished his report to the Government. His remarks upon Patca Hospital are as follow : “ The Hospital is a wooden building of two storeys, with iron roof, situated close to the town, on an elevated site commanding extensive views. The estate includes about seven acres of broken land, a part of which only has been fenced in. None of this is utilized in any way, with the exception of a small patch of kitchen-garden cultivated by the Steward, nor are there any paths but tracks, which are very muddy in wot weather. The estate is. bounded behind by a creek running towards the sea. The situation is good, but exposed to the winds, and having no trees to give any shelter. The ground floor contains three wards, a dispensary, kitchen, and Steward’s room; there is also a small lean-to shed in the rear. The upper floor has never been completed. The roof is open at the eaves, 1

and the only portion utilized ie a room partitioned off for the nurse. The cold wind which enters here makes the whole hospital draughty, as there is no staircase door. The wards on the ground floor accommodate respectively four, four, and three beds. They are' plain rooms with roughly-boarded walls and ceilings. One has a fireplace, another a small stove, but the third has no means of warming it. Wind comes through the walls, and renders the wards very draughty and uncomfortable. A lining of canvas and paper, which might be varnished, would obviate this. There are sash windows, with Holland blinds. Some of the bedsteads are the old military iron ones; others, are homemade of wood; and there are three modern iron ones, one of which has no laths, but a bottom of sacking. Straw beds, with flock bolsters and pillows, are in use, but there are no palliasses. The bed-clothing is of good quality, and very clean. A press, in one of these rooms, contains a small stock of spare blankets, but very little linen. Some plain wooden chairs, two commodes, and plain tables complete the furniture. A few shelves have been pul up, and there are bedside carpets. A number of unframed prints have been placed on the walls, and there is an abundance of newspap rs, and a few books. The dispensary opens out of the smaller ward. It contains a large ship’s medicinechest, but I saw no slock of surgical instruments. Here is kept a register of patients, who also sign a book promising to pay the sum of 3s a day for their maintenance. Very few, however, appear to be able to pay this sum. For want of better accommodation the butter and milk are 8 kept in the dispensary, which has even done duty as a mortuary. The Steward’s room is small and draughty. Behind it is the kitchen—a fair-sized room which has recently been lined with match-boarding. It contains a colonial oven, and a cupboard for stores. Good crockery, cutlery, &c., are provided. Provisions are obtained from the contractors by means of orders from a printed book, with counterfoils. The lean-to shed is too small to be used for washing, which has to be performed, at great inconvenience, out of doors. For want of a copper, an iron pan is heated over a fire kindled on the ground. . The outbuildings comprise privies for males and for females. A urinal of galvanized iron has recently been erected, but has neither receptacle nor drain. A very objectionable way of disposing of vegetable and other refuse, together with the slops, is practised—viz., by throwing it down the sloping ground behind the hospital. It cannot fail to cause a nuisance, if not an absolute danger to health. A proper drain might be easily and cheaply provided. Rain-water is used for domestic purposes. There, is also a well on the premises. There is no regular dietary. Dinner to-day consists of roast beef and potatoes, with suet pudding. All vegetables are purchased. Eight patients—all of the male sex—at present occupy beds. One or two of these might properly be inmates of a refuge. The whole of the wards are sometimes occupied by male patients, and it has been necessary at such times to provide accommodation for a female patient in'the nurse’s room. An "additional ward for this purpose should be fitted up, at a small ebst, in the second storey. The staff (resident) consists of the Steward and his daughter, who keep the establishment in good order and very clean. The patients are also well attended to. A starved and poverty-stricken appearance, however, pervades the whole hospital, upon which some expenditure is absolutely necessary unless its doors are to be closed. The Committee have no funds in hand at present. There are no private or other subscribers, and no endowments. 24th April, 1883.