HOSPITAL TREATMENT

Te Aroha News, Volume XLI, Issue 6599, 14 May 1925, Page 5

HOSPITAL TREATMENT

CASE OF WEALTHY PATIENTS SUGGESTED ALTERATIONS All local bodies are now being circularised by the Kiwitea County Council with reference to the administration of the public hospitals of the Dominion. Accompanying the circular is a copy of the Commissioner’s report on the recent inquiry into the circumstances relating to the treatment of a daughter of a ratepayer of the Kiwitea County whilst a patient in the Palmerston North Hospital, and generally as to the administration of that hospital. As a result of the Commissioner’s findings the Kiwitea County Council is more than ever satisfied that the question of the administration of hospitals is one that should be gone into with as little delay as possible, with the object of obtaining certain reforms. The public hospitals, said the circular, are maintained .by the ratepayers, per medium of rates and general taxes, and should be open to everyone, whether rich or poor, and no person should be refused admission unless the accommodation at the time is insufficient to meet demands. It is only by co-operation on the part of local bodies, and county councils in particular, that certain matters can be remedied and the administration of hospitals placed on a better footing. The Kiwitea Council is, therefore, of the opinion that all hospital boards throughout the Dominion should adopt uniform by-laws and regulations to include, inter alia:— (a) The rights of all persons (irrespective of means) to be admitted as patients to public hospitals. (b) In the event of accommodation at public hospitals being at any time insufficient to meet the demands for admission, that l - the question of discrimination insofar as the same relates to financial ability should be under the control of a civil officer of the board.

(c) That the medical certificate required on admission should deal only with the question of the patient being a fit subject for hospital treatment, and in this connection medical practitioners should have no right to inquire as to the financial status of patients. To this end there should be a uniform certificate of admission approved by the Public Health Department and a supply of certificates in the hands of all practitioners.

(d) That the rights and powers of the honorary medical staff should be more strictly defined. The honorary medical staff on no account to act contrary to the policy of the board, and in particular such staff to have no right to refuse to give the usual and proper treatment to a patient regularly admitted. The Kiwitea Council further recommended increased hospital charges in order that patients of sufficient financial ability should pay such fees as would enable the board to pay a reasonable fee to the members of the honorary staff attending to the particular case in accordance with an agreed scale for services rendered, with provision for partial or complete remission of fees in cases where financial circumstances justify such remission. The increased income of boards under such heads to be utilised: (1) In reducing levies to local bodies; (2) in providing additional accommodation including private wards; (3) in providing, finally, a resident medical staff to undertake the duties at present undertaken by the honorary medical staff. The Kiwitea Council requested the sympathy and support of all local bodies in this matter, which is of great importance and one that affects the whole of the Dominion, and if the local body is favourable to the suggestions outlined it was asked to notify the Minister for Public Health accordingly. The Thames County Council considered the matter worthy of serious consideration, and referred the circular to a later meeting.