HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATION.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13732, 22 August 1908, Page 7

HOSPITAL ADM IN IST RAT ION.

(To the Editor.) Sir. — I read jour loading article in last night's issue w ith great interest, but was not a little disappointed at the timid way m which you handled the matter from the point of view of the

public, it would soem iliat your sympathies went generally out to the medical men, who L think you will admit

tiro well able to look after themselves, judging from the very modest request made to the Conierence of Hospital Boards, that they he allowed to use the public hospitals wherein to treat their private patients, \\ ith no remuneration mark you to the hospital so being used, but at actual cost of upkeep only, to be paid by tho private patient. For unbounded impudence this beats anything I have hoard tor a long time, Mr Editor, and I was glad to note that you took exception to it. i f A\ould be equally reasonable ior the master butchers of this town to ask the Uorough Council tor itse of our abbatoirs at actual cost of maintenance. I think that while Mr Marehant's motion at the late confereneo upheld a principle that is of a iact correct it was never intended that our public hospitals should be established with the object of receiving patients who could afford to pay "reasonable charges" to our medical men for attendance, but no doubt there are a low cases in which advantage is taken ol the cheap and efficient treatment provided by these institutions. Are these cases so numerous, howeicr, that our medical men need cry out, and, if so, are the medical men themselves not to blame! 1 ' '"Reasonable charges. " All, there you have it, Mr Editor ! Except to Lodge members, are the charges made by tho medical men of New Zealand reasonable? 1 say distinctly no, they are not, but on the contrary they are exceedingly excessive, and it is this fact principally that is driving more and more of the community to seek "'the reasonable charges" made by our public hospitals. Can you blame the public for this, and is it not human nature to get die most for your money? I have in my mind several instances where charges made for unsuccessful surgical operations have beon most extortionate, and, did I wish to do so, could quote you comparative cases of fees charged in Great Britain and in New Zealand for ordinary small ailments, and you would be astounded at the difference. Of course we hear of enormous fees being paid in London and elsewhere to eminent men of the profession, but these men aro specialists in one department or another of surgery, etc., and, besides, they are the fashion also. This applies to all professions and trades generally, and, while certain of the well to do public are prepared to pay, they can get suited at any price. These coses must not, however, be made a comparison witn I medical fees generally or the latter will dwindle into insignificance. No, sir, the medical profession as a whole is the best paid in this Dominion by a long, long way, and I was astonished to see that our local representatives had made the request previously mentioned. They are kept busy from morning, till night. as it jla, and I should have thought ■thtit they would have been glad to have given over those of their patient s who go to tht* public hospital to tho care of the medical superintendent. However, to meet the medical men's wishes I would suggest that tho Government at no distant date provide private wards at the hospitals of the Dominion where people who arc in a position to pay, eduld go and be attended by their own medical men at say 10s of 15s a day; the medical attendant to receive a certain proportion of that fee for vis trouble ; but £ hope tho day is far distant when the public hospitals 'will be at the service of tlio doctors at cost of maintenance, with the right given them to arrange their own fees with patients. I must compliment the members of our Hospital Board for the rigid stand they have taken in this matter, and trust that while assisting the doctors when practicable without detriment to the public interests, they a\j[ll always adhere to their principles 'that the hospitals are not for private use of the medical men. — I am, etc., SOLAR PLEXt'S.