DENTISTS CONCERNED

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19132, 29 September 1936, Page 8

DENTISTS CONCERNED

PUBLIC HOSPITAL WORK REASONS FOR MEANS TEST Reasons for the application by the Now Zealand Dental Association for the reinstatement of some form of means test at the Wellington Public Hospital in the dental department were explained by the president of the Wellington branch, Mr. T. V. Anson, to the Dominion. At its meeting on Thursday night the Hospital Board declined the request. "Much as we realise that a means test is distasteful, we feel that some form of restriction is necessary,” lie said. "No dentist could make a living at the fees charged by the. hospital. Tin dental department there has seven qualified dentists and six mechanics, and they are entering into competition with dentists in private practice at greatly reduced fees. We are not advocating a strict means test, but we consider that some protection should be given.

"The original idea was to cater for the indigent, but now it seems as if anyone can obtain attention, irrespective of their means. Both the Auckland and Christchurch hospitals have means tests in their dental departments, and the test at Auckland in particular is very strict. In fact, I understand that no attention will be given to a person if he has any money at all, and when attention is given no fees are charged, the work being done as charity. "The present position in Wellington is very unfair, especially to young practitioners who had to bear the burden of hard times and had to do a great deal of work for nothing, and now expect to be able to recuperate,” said Mr. Anson. "I understand that at Auckland some of the patients are sent to private practitioners, who do the work at special rates, and the Wellington dentists would be willing to cooperate with the hospital in that way." Another prominent Wellington dentist said dentists were being hit in two ways under the present system. Not only did they lose a certain amount of work through the department at the hospital, but they also had to pay for the maintenance of the department through rates. Dentists were not opposed to the work done by the hospital; rather they supported it., but there should be some limit.

“We prefer the hospital to do a large amount of the work because we cannot do it,” lie said. "We could not cut fees to such a fine point, with the added risk of not being paid for a large amount of the work. The margin of profit working on those lines is so small that the loss of a few fees would eliminate the profit on the majority. "Our objection is that persons having an income of even £IOOO a year may receive treatment. Another point is that the older dentists in the city spent weeks working at the hospital on the rota system when there were half as many dentists in Wellington. We did it ns a service to a deserving and indigent part of the community, and now it is being turned against us.”