HOSPITAL BOARD

Southland Times, Issue 22873, 24 April 1936, Page 4

HOSPITAL BOARD

Monthly Meeting honorary consulting SURGEON The monthly meeting of the Southland Hospital Board was held yesterday. The following members were present: Mr T. Golden (chairman) and Messrs W. Clark, J. S. A. McDougall, A. McKenzie, J. W. Miller, J. Miller, T. Newman, W. Norman and F. Trapski, Dr J. A. Pottinger and Mrs A. Henderson. The treatment of officers and men of the New Zealand Division of the British Navy was the subject of a letter received from the Director-Gen-eral of Health, Mr M. H. Watt. The letter stated that from time to time letters from hospital boards were received by the Department of Health expressing surprise at the fact that the Navy Office had asked that the maintenance fee in respect of naval ratings who had received hospital treatment be reduced to 30/- a week. The Direc-tor-General explained that in April, 1921, all hospital boards had been requested to endeavour to arrange that officers and men of the Navy who were admitted to the boards’ institutions should be treated at a uniform maintenance fee of 30/- a week. With few exceptions this request had been agreed to by the hospital boards and to these the concession agreed to in 1921 was still binding. That Dr J. A. Pottinger be appointed as honorary consulting surgeon at the Southland Hospital was a motion brought forward by Mr John Miller. Dr Pottinger, being a member of the Hospital Board, would be an honorary consulting surgeon in every sense of the word, Mr Miller said in introducing his motion. The chairman: We regret that we will be unable to pay Dr Pottinger any honorarium, but I’m sure that he does not consider the financial aspect of such a matter. The motion was seconded by Mr McKenzie and carried unanimously. Southland’s Radium. The annual report of Dr L. C. McNickle, medical superintendent of the Southland Hospital stated:— After prolonged negotiations 55 milligrammes of the 600 milligrammes of Southland radium were transferred to the Southland Hospital. Forty-one cases were treated during the year, which has saved our patients the inconvenience and expense of transfer to Dunedin. During the coming year the installation of a deep X-ray plant will save further cases from travelling to Dunedin. A new operating table was purchased in England by Dr J. A. Pottinger at a cost of £133, plus freight, exchange, sales tax and so on amounting in all to over £7O, the report continued. The table was a beautiful example of the best English workmanship and had the most modern accessories. Dr Pottinger spent a good deal of time and care in choosing it. The report also contained detailed statistics of cases treated during the year and proceeded as follows:— From the following comparative table it will be seen that the number of patients admitted in ten years has more than doubled, and has increased every year. In the period 1925-26 the number of in-patients admitted was 1036 and the average days’ stay was 38.6. In the succeeding periods the figures for inpatients, with the average days’ stay in parentheses, were: 1930-31, 1614 (22.5); 1931-32, 1662 (20.98); 1932-33, 1786 (20.59); 1933-34, 1930 (18.82); 193435, 2126 (16.12); 1935-36, 2324 (15.64). The following is a comparative table of patients for the years 1935 and 1936 at the Lome Infirmary (the report

Donations to Hospital. Matron Ross, of the Southland Hospital, reported that the following donations had been received for the month of March: Red Cross Society, fruit; St. Paul’s Sunday School, flowers and books; Invercargill Unemployment Fund, garments; Mesdames Johnstone, flowers; Lindsay (Wallacetown), flowers; Brash (Waikiwi), flowers); J. McKenzie (Walter Peak Station), magazines; R. Gilmour, magazines; Witting, magazines; Coalsworth, magazines, Kirkness, magazines; Crossland, magazaines; Doyle, fruit for children’s ward; Thornton, mushrooms; Taylor (Lora Gorge), apples; Alington, papers; Mss Raines, books and magazines; “A Friend,” flowers and magazines; “A Friend,” magazines. The matron of the Lome Infirmary reported the following donations to that institution: —Mr Aitchison. Mr Brown, Mr Poole and Mrs Handyside, books and magazines.

concluded): — 1936 1935 Remaining from previous year 69 66 Admitted during year 62 56 Discharged during year 39 33 Died during year 20 20 Remaining at end of year, 72 69 Average individual days’ stay 205.98 208.15 Patients per day 73.65 69.57