Who Should Control?

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 548, 28 December 1928, Page 8

Who Should Control?

Problem of St. Helens Hospital

ONE of the first duties which will fall upon the shoulders of the new Minister of Health, the Hon. A. J. Stallworthy, is the settlement of the accommodation problem—and incidentally the administration —of the St. Helens Hospital at Auckland. Unsuccessful endeavours are being made to vest the control of the institution in the Auckland Hospital Board. Overcrowding is acute and extensions on the present site are inadvisable.

During the past few years vigorous efforts have been made by the authorities and by medical men throughout the country to check the disconcerting increase in maternity mortality, and the necessity for extensive training in midwifery was clearly recognised about 13 years ago. Shortly after the war began, maternity deaths reached an alarming total, and in 1016 special inquiries were instituted to determine the causes of New Zealand’s high contribution to this undesirable state. Success has so far greeted the endeavours of the investigators that the rate has fallen appreciably in recent SK SK SK 38

$6 Sfc $6 ry£ %r years, and to-day the Dominion is resuming its normal place among the countries of the world. Auckland always has been a substantial factor in national health reform and the local hospital board ranks high in the general record of achievement. So far as St. Helens Hospital is concerned, however, the board is without jurisdiction. The St. Helens movement was placed on a concrete basis by the late Mr. Seddon, who was instrumental in having these maternity institutions established. Their primary function was to provide treatment for the poorer people, and anyone belonging to a family in receipt of an income above a certain figure was not eligible for entry to its wards. Incidentally its purpose was to train nurses in midwifery. The demand upon the 55 beds in the Auckland St. Helens Hospital has been great, and the new Minister of Health, the Hon. A. J. Stallworthy,

has been asked to represent tne claims for extension to his Cabinet for approval. With the question of accommodation has been raised also that of administration. The Minister, in conveying the views of the Director-General of Health, Dr. T. H. A. Valintine. said the hospital was originally intended to be a training institution for midwives, and not a maternity hospital for Auckland, and he implied that he would consult the Auckland Hospital Board anent its requirements. NATIONAL QUESTION The chairman of the Auckland Hospital Board, Mr. William Wallace, while agreeing with the desirability of a consultation with the Minister, explains very lucidly his views upon the control of St. Helens. Two or three years ago, Mr. Wallace explains, the board was asked to take over the administration of the institution, but this suggestion was not countenanced, because it was found that the hospital was being conducted by the Health Department at a heavy loss. The board then wisely decided not to burden their ratepayers with the financial strain of a departmental white elephant. Such is the position to-day. “X do not agree with Dr. Valintine that St. Helens Hospital was to be a training school for midwives,” Mr. Wallace adds. “It was originally intended as a maternity hospital for the working man. “We realise the necessity for giving nurses efficient training in midwifery, and we realise ..Iso the difficulty in getting well-trained midwives to take up district nursing. But we regard the St. Helens Hospital as a national movement and not a local question. BOARD IS NOT KEEN “Attempts have been made before to foist this responsibility upon the hospital boards throughout the Dominion, but as St. Helens Hospitals were established by the department to he run by them, we do not feel obliged to impose the added tax upon our ratepayers." The board chairman, in discussing the problem further, says the whole question of midwifery training is one of finance, and in this light the board will have to view it. Eventually consideration will have to be given to a proposal to establish a school for maternity nurses in this district. it is agreed that the present site of St. Helens Hospital is not conveniently adaptable for extensions, on account of its proximity to the busy street. On the other hand, extensions are urgently required, as the demand upon the institution is becoming daily greater. The Minister of Health will have all these factors to consider when he resumes his duties after the holiday rush, and when he reachc-j on his official file the representations of the Auckland interests. At the present time the St. Helens Hospital at Auckland, involving as it does a heavy financial loss, is in the lonely category of “nobody's baby.”