HOSPITAL BOARD FINANCE.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 13012, 27 June 1906, Page 7

HOSPITAL BOARD FINANCE.

THE CHAIRMAN EXPLAINS. At the meeting of the Hospital ami Charitable Aid Board yesterday, the chairman made a statement in reply to the complaints that had Jbeen made by certain local bodies regarding the Board's levy on; local bodies. Since last meeting, said ilr Talbot, a meeting had been called by Mr Kelland, of delegates or local bodies, in connection -with hospital expenditure. That meeting' ■lapsed, ar> there did not appear to be sufficient interest taken is. me question to secure a meeting. He had prepared a few figures for that meeting, and it would be wee to give them now. For the sake of shewing the increase in the expenditure, he had d:iMvn a. comparison between last year and isn years ago, and the "increase 4iad been fairly steady in the last ten .years. Ihe increases had been chiefly in the institutions, outside charitable aid had practically stationary. Mr Talbot; gave the following figures, the first of each pair referring to 1895-6, the second to 1905-6 ;—Patitents treated, 300—509; total coat, £2250'—£4130; wages and salaries, £■756—£1325: provisions, £s3o £1460; inmates of Old Men's Home, 17—28; coat of heme, £474—£761; Waimate hospital, £9oo £I3OO. * Mr TalboA made remarks on some of ■the figures. The cost of -wages and sala- • riea had increased, because the number of people paid had increased, and there had beea a general inciease in all rates; of wages and salaries. The cost of provisions seemed a very large increase, and; last yeax's in-, retire was a large part of j 'the total. Compared with ten years. ;tg;>, sot oniy hil the number of people to he fed beea ci .rly doable, but everything in the >vay c: fried was de:irer, 'by 30 to 40 •per cent. (The secretary: Some of them ■doable.) The Waimate Hospital showed a relatively similar increase to the Timara Hospital. Mr Talbot said that it was ctutrged agairs>t the B<\ird that t'tiey were extravagaat, th-».t they had provided a palatial residence fur the nurses, and that the inifections di- eases hospital was a luxury. He did sot think that'anything the Hoard had provided was palatial or luxurious. They would not be justified in providing luxuries, and even what might be called necessaries must be cut down if ,they cciuH not be afforded. There traw no •doubt about their ability to maintain tee institutions in their present state of efficiency. Another aspect of the matter was the source of the funds expended- The' total was about £BOOO. of-which £4OOO , was provided by the local bodies and £4OOO by subsidies from the consolidated revenue. It was supposed that the local bodies provided their £4OOO from the rates, but he thought he was right in saying that the subsidies were originally given to the local bodies to cover the cost of hospitals and charitable aid when the adininistration and maintenance were given to them; it was considered that as everyone used the hospital: it was reasonable that the cost should to. ai large extent come out of the consolidated revenue. In most cases it 'now did so through the subsidies, equalling the amount paid for hospitals and charitable aid. That of cours-e would not excuse the Board for any want of economy. As for the complaint that palatial quarters had been provided for the nurses, that was easily disposed of. Kach nurse had & separate bedroom, the nurses had a sitting room in common, and there was nothing luxurious about them. With regard to the infectious diseases iLcapital, the Road [Boards were asked to provide £BOO amongthem, equal to about l-50th o£ a J 600 ? rate. Knowing Mr Kelland as"Be" dioT he believed he could safely say that if Mr KeHand had been asked for a subscription of the amount of his Tate, he would have said—" IU gladly give you four times as much, but I think you ought to put the charge on the rates, mo that everyone will pay." The whole expenditure on hospitals and charitable aid did not exceed" 5s a head of the population of-the district, and was nothing at all compared with the expenditure on some things that were luxuries. The cost, of charitable aid had been almost stationary, for one reason because /the district was prosperous*, and the old age pensions had helped a Ettle. In view of the prevalent prosperity, and the increased cost of living, he t-hougbt their charitable aid allowances were rather on the low side alt round; and this was especially the case with the payment for the 36 boarded out children. Five .shillings a week was too Mnall a payment at present, in some cases at all events, and there were complaints about it. The children ought to be fairly well provided for. and 5s a week was not enough to secure ithat as things were at present. Mr Studho'lme said the Board were thankful to Mr Talbot for preparing the figures and for his explanations:. The figures would no doubt be useful as an answer to charges of extravagance.