HOSPITAL MATTERS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14714, 20 September 1918, Page 2

HOSPITAL MATTERS.

DISCUSSION OVER NEWSPAPER. PARAGRAPH.

At the Hospital Board's meeting yesterday afternoon, some discussion took place among the members oyer a local which appeared m the Herald on Aug ust 21st; The matter was referred to when the following letters were read : A letter was received from the following sisters and nurses : I. Crossing, W. Earle. C. A. Sfennmer, and A. Chambers, which was as follows: ''We, the undersigned, are' of opinion that the local which appeared m the Poverty Bay Herald on August 20th was intended to mislead the public with regard to tho attitude of the sisters who have sent m their resignations. AYe wish to. express our strong dissent from the implication that was made that matters were running more smoothly since tlie arrival of Miss Bioknell. As far aa the sisters could see, the matters and discipline appeared entirely satisfactory under the late matron, and we only sent m our resignations as a protest against the treatment that . Miss Tailwas receiving at the hands of the medical superintendent and certain members of the board. From this attitude wo have never swerved for ' owe moment, and we were quite m sympathy with the letter which Mas -written by Miss Rowley. We would be glad to have this letter made public." — The letter was receivod. ...... i. Miss Rowley, masseuse, wrote: — i "May I be allowed to call the attention | of the members of the board to the i circumstances of my summary dismissal from the service oi' the board, and to ! ask them tr» be' so kind as to consider I -whether In their opinion i had been I justly treated by the chairman? On ; August 20th the following local appeared m tho Poverty' Bay Herald. ■-It is. understo' d that, since the appointment of '-the. new matron at tho Cook ; Hospital (Miss Bjcknell) matters m the ! institution have been, working quite smoothly. The members-, of .the nursing staff who tendered their resignations to the board have decided to work out the .i'ul^ time of their notice, and. it j is hoped' that" the matter has now been : .permanently settled.' The sisters and myself were very indignant at the implication and even Miss . Bickn'ell m my interview with her acknowledged the Jn- ' justice, of tho local, and that she had been very vexed to see it. We felt that the local was most misleading, and very unfair ,m. its tone to the late matron and all the sisters' that had resigned, since none of them had the smallest intention- of; reconsidering, theii resignation. I therefore wrote a lettei which the editor of the Herald mutilated, although it. bore my signature. I -was jnfdrmecf by Mis.s Bickhell that she and the. medical, superintendent, had decided to suspend me for writing this letter, until' tQie return- of the chairmaii from Wellington, and iii the meantime I must hot enter the wards^ '..-. This left both my military and infantile cases un. treated', and. I- could give no directipns for the splinting of the latter. On the Monday .following, having had leave tc stay away with, friends, I received , - a ring from Miss Bicknell, who told m« that the chairman had decided 1; was not .to come back, and on no. account was, 1 to enter, the hospital again. Thus my patients remained untreated .until a new masseuse .was. obtained. Fortunately two of my ; worst cases were removed, so were able to be attended tc outside. I wish to enter my protest agains^ thp treatment I have received at the hands of the matron, medical , superintendent, ' and chairman. Thej were all aware that my resignation had been sent hi, and I had only a" fortnight to run. I can find nothing m the rules which suggests m any way that a sistei or masseuse may not. .write, a letter tc the paper, and therefore if the matron considered it a wrong action on my part I venture to submit that she should have pointed but , that it was so, and informed me that -it must not occur again. Wats my fault-— if fault it was— the most extreme? It certainly received the extreme penalty. ' During: the time I have been m your employ I have endeavored to dp my very best for my patients;, and have worked. most, happily with the matron and sjbaff. Was it not due both to niyself and my. patients to have .been allowed-^tb.', .hand them over m proper order to r mj( successor? JL'he only reason Uhat I tMiie- this is to try to protect the" sisters' or masseuse who may follow, from such summary and unjust treatment.''. Tho chairman raid 'that he was m Wellington when the paragraph appeared', and ho came back on the Sunday morning; He wa*s rung up by the matron, and asked if lie would go to the hospital,'... The matron informed him she had suspended Miss Rowley for .writing a letter to the paper, contrary to hospital rules. Mr Tombleson moved that Miss Rowley's lettei 1 . should be received. It was tha last of -, the , storm , uhich had passed bye.- the institution. "I think,", he:said, "that the only thing for, us to do .is to congratulate* Dr. Collins and his friends-- yn gettnigrid,of the previous matron." .;■ ' Dr. Collins : Unless Ml* Topibleson. can prove wliat lie sayV it shpiUd be. withdrawn. I ask the" protection of the chair. * The chairman; I will take that responsibility, for x the matron .old Miss Rowley. , v .;..-., Mr Lewis considered .Miss Rowley had been harshly treated.., Although^ they wero fully * conversant .. with the" by -law forbidding the \ staff to write to the newspapers, m any shape or form on matters connected with* the running' of the institution, he considered Miss Rowley had a certain right to repudiate the statement made. AWhat appeared m that parajnvvph was unfair to the late' matron, a He. admired the action of. Miss Rowley, although it was perhaps. a breach; of -"the by-laws. If a person got a slap on the f ace-v— The chairman;.. Avhat does the. Bible say? Mr. Lewis; The Bible has told us a lot of things that are being contradioted at the present time. Had the statement come from . a member of the board it would not have been so bad. j^tiss Rowley was defending ..herself and -'her colleagues. " Mr .Kenway said he, agreed: with what had been sa.id. Every member realised tho splendid 'service rendered by Miss Rowley and they should hot allow hci; to leave the institution without passing a. resolution conveying their appreciation of .her work and regret at- her departure. They should bear witness, to her untiring patience^ sympathy, and skill. He suggested! that Mr Tombleson should add the following to his motion that the letter be received : "That the Cook Hospital Board wishes to place on record an expression of its deep regret at tlie loss of services of Miss Rowley, t the late lady masseuse at the hospital,, m which capacity she had shown extraordinary skill, which, coupled with an unusually acute sympathy with the patients under her charge had effected wonders, and-., m ..her. -treatment of infantile paralysis cases, where .-untiring patience and unerring - observation of each separate case is vital. She had instantly won the affection and trust of each child, and had been the means of great practical improvement m nearly every case. The board wishes to ex-' press its very best wishes for the.personal and professional success of Miss Rowley m her future career, and m so doing wishes to emphasise its opinion ot" her personal qualities and professional skill* as expressed .m this rosolut'on." .Mr Tombleson suggested that the letter .should be received, and that the motion of Mr Kenway bo taken with it. "Mr Humphreys considered Mr Kenway had not gone beyond what Miss

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Howie} - deserved. She deserved any i ecomnieiidation they could give her. She had endeared herself to the children and soldiers and all those who knew hex- work. ft. was. only right to give recognition of the services of those who had so- faithfully served the institution. Mr McCliskie said the parents and children who were unfortunate enough to suffer from infantile paralysis had cause to' remember the good work done by Miss Rowley.- >She might have, committed a technical breach of the regulations, but sisters m the past hadT broken the rule m a more- serious manner, and their actions had been concloned by the board. Nurse Cavell had 1. roken an international rule m trying to help her fellow countrymen, and had been punished by the Germans. The chairman: You are not putting me m the same category as the German, I hope. Mr McCliskie : The persons responsible for this work who have so successfully engineered this business'4'lie chairman : Keep your ."/-remarks confined to Miss Rowley. Mr McCliskie : I say that those who so successfully engineered this business are' worthy to rank with the Germans who had Deen decorated with 1 the Iron iJross for making war on and murdering women and... children. ..'.He added that. Miss Rowlej' had done splendid work. The resolution was carried.

With -reference to. the above we can only say that, t"h» : paragraph' published on August 21st was simply given as a jiure statement of 'fact, without any iinplicatiou such as \the. nurses imagined it contained. In regard to Miss Rowley's complaint- 'aa- f to "mutilation" of her lettor,, it is a well-established journalist 'c rule that letters tp. tlie editor, intended for '-publication,'' will only be received -'on tho stipulation that t'liey are subject to editorial ro vision, ami m tl^e case ':olerrcd to a olaust> was eliminated which, whilst- not interfering, with 'the arguiiio'nt of the writer, wasj m the, opinion of the editor, of so controversial ;i •nature tliat it would .surely have led •to' fiii'ther correspondeuice,, which, m tho interests of tlie hospital, was iindesir : able.— Ed. .Herald. ■