HOSPITAL BOARD.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 7287, 15 August 1893, Page 3

HOSPITAL BOARD.

The monthly meeting of the South Canterbury Hospital and Charitable Aid Board was held* to day. Present : Messrs J. Jackson (chairman), W. H. Moore, Talbot, Gillingham, R. H. Rhodes, Graham.

The chairman in his usual statement commented on tbe success of an endeavour to make hospital patients pay who could do so, £ll3 12s 7d having been collected in the past four months,— nearly as much as was collected in the previous year. The subsidy had been received from the Government, including full payments on tbe Russell Trust donation, these payments being made retrospective, tbe total coming to £ll6 on the retrospective account. For this the Board must thank the member for Timaru, Mr Hall Jones, who had explained the matter to the Inspector and pressed the Board’s claim. Tbe Board hud now a credit balance of £1855, to be reduced by tbe day’s payments £349. The list of patients who bad exceeded tbe fixed time of stay included oases which had been in the hospital 91,124,157 and 637 days. A resolution was passod thanking Mr HallJones for having successfully interested himself in obtaining full subsidy on the Russell Trust donation.

A discussion took p’ace on the long stay of one of the patients, a female, 637 days. Mr Gillingham said he had been spoken to about the board’s inconsistency ; they turned out the man Menries,.a man without means, and kept in this person so much longer* The bouse steward said there was a difference. Merzies had been declared discharged by the doctors, while this young woman was still under treatment.

Dr Hogg was called into consultation respecting three of the cases. The longest one, he stated, was a case of slow recovery from bone disease, and there was good hope of cure eventually.

The by-law leaves the discharge of patients entirely to the medical officer, and the board therefore said they could do nothing. A letter was read from an old man asking for 30 instead of 20 rations a month. He was getting a little help from some blacksmiths, and if be bad 30 rations he could manage. It was explained that the appli cant’s connection with the smiths included fetching beer for them in a billy from a public home, and he bad been told that he must give up that sort of thing or he would lose his rations. It was admitted that the case was a difficult one to deal with, as the only certain alternative would be striking him off the list and allowing him to be treated as a vsgrant. Finally it was agreed that the existing arrangement should be continued for the present. An old man, fast growing decrepit, who could get no work here, and had found that be could manage to rub along at Napier, asked the board to assist in transferring his family to Napier, to save keeping two homes—lnquiries to be made before next meeting, and in the meantime rations to be supplied to the family if required. A woman, one of whose children bad been boarded out at Geraldine, waited on the Board to ask that the child —a girl of 13—be returned to her, as she could now provide for her. The person with whom the girl is boarded had made strong objection when asked to give her up. After bearing a long story the Board decided that subject to the consent of the other party the child be returned to the mother.

The chairman stated that a girl named Cook desertrd her child, which was sent to the barracks. Finding that Cook was at Ashburton be sent Mrs Sabiston with the child, with instructions to find the mother, place the child on her knee, and leave it there. That was done and the child was now out of the Board’s charge. Mrs Fish, of the Ladies’ Oomittee, Geraldine, wrote that she had quite lately visited all the children who were placed under her care, with the exception of two who live rather far away, and she found them all well looked after, and kindly treated. Several of them were, or bad been, ill from measles, but were getting better. Some of them, of course, seemed better dressed than others, but that depends very much on the boy himself. The letter concluded : “ On the whole I think the Board may be satisfied with the condition of the children,” The members of the Board expressed their pleasure at the interest shown by Mrs Fish m the children. A for £7 from a medical practitioner in a country district, for attendance on a charitable aid recipient, gave rise to a discussion on the principle of admitting liability for medical attendance. It was pointed out that the medical men in Timaru attend suoh cases without charge, and if the cases were suitable they wore sent to the hospital. On the other band it was said that many oases are not suitable for the hospital, and that people are es much entitled to medical assistance as to food, if it were necessary. Eventually it was resolved that the claim could not be entertained. In consequence of the absence of two members, Messrs Sherratt and Barker, it was agreed to postpone till next meeting the further consideration of the report of the committee on the barracks and boarding out system. Mr Moore then moved the following, of which he had given notice : - « That the present system of giving outdoor relief by means of orders for rations be

discontinued. That in order to uniformity of system a committee be appointed to draw up a scale, showing the money value Of relief per month that should he forwarded to families according to their numbers, auoh scile to form a basis upon which the amount of relief can be calculated according to the peculiar necessities vidual case, and the cost of provisions in the district to which the recipient belongs. The committee to consist of the chairman, Messrs Talbot, Gillingham and the mover. That in future orders bo given representing certain money values—the value of relief per month —which recipients can present to the storekeepers who have contracted with the Board for supplies, in return for the articles of food which have been tendered for, and that the recipients be allowed to take whatever articles they require, and[in what quantities, up to the money value ot the order. That the articles of food supplied consist of, at per lb —bread, beef, mutton, potatoes, tea, sugar, cocoa, flour, oatmeal, barley, rice, arrowroot, sago, cornflour, salt, pepper, salt, buttir, treacle, soda, candles, and safety matches at per box. milk at per quart, eggs at per dozen, and soap at per bar 5 and that the list of articles and the contract prices be printed 00 the back of each order, for the information and protection of the recipient. That if any articles in the above list are not already tendered for, contractors be asked at what price they will supply them.” A long discussion took place on this motion. Mr Moore explained that the “ ration" which formed the basis of the contracts for supplies consists of a few principal necessaries, and besides this ration the contractors furnish a schedule of prices for other goods. In hardly any case did a recipient of charitable aid take the bare “ ration,’ 1 it was more or lees traded off for other goods, in the schedule or out of it. This worked unfairly to the recipients, as the lower the price of the “ ration,” the less food could be got on exchanging it for other goods. For example, if the ration was tendered for at 6d and bread was scheduled at per lb, the recipient could take a 41b loaf instead of a ration ; but if the ration was tendered for at 4|d then only 31b of bread could be got instead of a [[ration. f lhe contract price of a ration therefore did not show how much food a family would get if anything else than the ration was taken, and many a widow with a family preferred to take more bread and loss of, say, meat. He had written to Christchurch, and found that in North Canterbury the system pursued was to give orders of a certain money value, available at certain stores named, and a list of the goods to which supplies were limited was printed on the orders. He had inquired at Geraldine, and the contractor there said the adoption of that system would make no difference to him, because practically it was followed now. He (Mr Moore) thought the board should accept the system iu use, and not nominally act upon another which is not followed. All the articles enumerated in his motion were now tendered for, except three or four which he found in the Christchurch list, and should be added - treacle, salt, soap, and matches. He attached a good deal of importance to the scale of requirements he wished to have drawn up, not for a hard and fast rule but as a guide in making allowances. Mr Graham seconded the motion, but thought it should not be brought into force until the termination of the present contracts, Me pointed out that the contract price of rations differed at the different centres of | supply, yet the board did not take this into account when making allowances. Mr Talbot did not tee much use in setting up a committee to draw up a scale ,* they had batter have one to go into the whole question. ( He found that in some cases the scheduled prices were such that the recipient would got the ration by taking the articles at the scheduled rates, but in other cases far less. I He agreed that the ration system is wrong altogether ; it would be better to give orders for money values, and in some cases money grants would be useful, where people could buy things cheap from friends. Then there was the alternative of making the money orders open, to be taken to any tradesman — wherever the bolder could get hast served. The absurd variations in tbe prices sent in for the same sort of article showed that the contract system is bad. It could not be carriage or profits that made the differences, but the quality of tbe articles to be supplied. The chairman suggested that the money order system be tried iu a portion of the district, first, say Geraldine or Waimate. Mr Gillingham asked why the ration system was adopted, and Mr Talbot said money used to be given, and some of the recipients took it to the hotels, so that was stopped.

H|ln reply to Mr Graham, Mr Moore said the North Canterbury Board makes allowances of coal and firewood. The secretary wrote to him that a certain proportion of necessaries must be taken, and then if desired the balance might be exchanged for luxuries. In some cases rations were commuted for payments, and sometimes money allowances were necessary for cottage rents. Mr Moore quoted the Christchurch Board's balance sheets showing a larger amount for money payments than for rations. Mr Rhodes could not see any real difference between the present system, as it is worked, and the one proposed. Rations were allowed, say to the value of 10s, and it was admitted that the recipient and the contractor treated the order as one for 10s worth of goods. Eventually Mr Moore's motion was withdrawn, in favour of one appointing the chairman, Messrs Talbot, Gillingham, and Moore, a committee to take into consideration the whole subject of orders and out-door relief.

The same committee was also requested to consider the adviaableness of printing a statement of the board's accounts in the same form as is used by the North Canterbury board.

Hospital accounts amounting to £169 4s lid, and charitable aid accounts, £l4B 4s 5d were passed for payment.