THE HOSPITAL YEAR.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13447, 20 November 1907, Page 2

THE HOSPITAL YEAR.

RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT. - Mr J. Talbot, chairman of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, at yest-er-dav's meeting made some remarks on the close of thy Board's term of service. When next-the Board met, he said, it would' be a different Board from the pra'ient one, oven if all the present, members- were reyppointd, as iiri number was to be increased from eight to eleven. . At the close of the year he would like to express his satisfaction with the way the members had attended to the business, and his pleasure at their courttiiy to ' himself •i:s chairman. He. then proceeded' to lead and comment upon a return prepared by the secretaiy, as follows-:—Dealing first with chaiirable aid, there were now 62 families, representing 238 souls, in receipt of aid: last year there were 74 families and 266 souls, co that there had been a decrease in the number of recipients. The minimum amount granted to any family was £2 10.3 per month. This was rather higher .than before, some cases being more necessitous, and the cost of living having increased. The number of children boarded out was about the. same as last year, 38 in foster homes, and 10 in institutions. 'The 'total- expenditure on charitable' -aid, apart from the Old Men's Home, had been ■°-1023 17s '9d; last year it was £ll2O 12s sd. The inmates of the Home ?were 30 men and '"3 women, last year 26 m«n and 3 women. The cost had been; £478. less £233 received as old age pensions-; against. £476, less £192- • last year./. The Tinw.ru Hospital had cost for maintenance £2826; last year £2950. On buildings £2307 had been , spent;; new laundry £1767, operating threatie (unfinished) £450, and sundries £9O. The operating theatre" wotr-d require £2OO more, but the whole cost would' be met by the Dwyer bequest, so that it would cost ■'•'•the ratepayers nothing. The laundry, had not been established long enough to allow of a conclusion whether if could be run more cheaply than the old one. Probably itnot, but it wouVT permit of the work being done -.more, satisfactorily. There were about-ICo'..people to be tI provided for, and the old laundry was quite inadequate to the' requirements." . 'Next year the Board would' have -to..'-put-in hand the Seddon ''-Memorial'-' Ward',' a work of .which the- -public; would get the benefit, 'without a- call upon ;the ratepayers. .Amore-serious matter for the Board was the- necessity for, providing a. new Old Men's rioirie, the cost of which was estimated:at £SOOO. -.Mr Turnbull would have "had'the"p'ans' here'j "butO he: (the chairman) had euggested 'that it;would be better :to leave them- to the new Board who would Jiaye r to carry them out. They had bfen.approved /by- Dr: Yaliritine, Inspector of Hospitals. As "to The funds for .its. erection, theie 'had . been £SOO -'.placed l on the cistimatrs, ; and'/ the .Board -might count- on'say £2500 Trom the. Wle of; the present site apd-buildihgs, : Vwhich would leave £2SCO to be provided.;—(Mr Maslin■:" Half of it/by •Government'.'subsidy).—The localifrodiies .would rtitpsdk.wppfj'it favourably as it'woidd meari.aii jtidreased demand, upon them, by' about, one-third ; but the new building was much Required. The Inspector General remarked, that the present institution was but a makeshift one, and' he expected a better; to 'be provided l in the near future. '' If ■'■ this were provided, the Board would then be in a:'good pceition for carrying on for many; years.' There had been eleven, patients in the fever hospital for some time. It had therefbre justified its erection, for if these cases Had cropped up in its absence, the Board would have ,been put 'to ; muclh inconvenience and. greater expense in providing rbr them. . . ; " ; .

Anoiier important thing -which the Board/itself could do nothing with, was the necessity for providing honKs. i'oiv chronic invalids, ana incuraoies. :. The/ ,lriispector 'General reported' that there were many people-, now .m v liospita;s who wete too: bad lor Old Men's "Homes, and were' improperly 'kept in -hospitals.' This was' a matter for the' whole, country. This Board was face to face ■: with'-tlijj difficulty to a. certain extent, -and other districts were in a worse position.••Anotherr r class of casei3 was thao of imbeciles, who were not fit to be at Targe, nor for -mental asylums. • These-two. classes should/be dealt with by the Dominion, and eoflou'iishing a community .could '/very well -afford/ to make provision ; for Theni.i .-■•"_; : '_.'.

With regard to .the, consumptive sana-/ torium, : some legislation- had been ptit through,.- to%enabie this Board 'to combine with North- .-Canterbury, and.. jjossibly with to'.provide, cihd', carry on a consumptive •.sanatorium near, ' Christchurch. ; -he, thought it very blamable that the legislation, had been leit to the end. of the session,.and the Boards had no reasonable opportunity of considering it. In fact, if the xion. Mr Ansiey. had not -sent them copies of .the Bill, this Board would not have known anything about it. Mr Talbot then explained thai, he had called a special meeting, /and what had been, done thereat. The meeting, was only a- small one,' but there was no time to be. lest. Mr Kinnerney .recqnimended.certain-ainfind-ments. and these had been 'sent to. Wellington, but... whether., any -of ■ these:: had' .been adopted, was not known •.yet.;. ■ This, Board .had. wanted, an independent /Board, but the,"Bill"provided for *a Committee; and the vesting of the Institution, in the North Canterbury Board. ; Ite thought, that euch an ; arrangement would not; work, very well, and if /the Bill was passed -iii that form -it /was', doubtful—wheiher :r-vhis< Board could agre 5 e to accept the arrange--ment. A telegram had' been sent .to Mr' Anjiteyi asldng.;him to let the Board ikhow.' the position. The latest newspaper, report: was that the Bill' had passed: the Com-1 niittee sttige in the Council with minor ) amendments. ■■/■, : '"'•,/: -

In. conclusion ■ the chairman . again thanked members for their courtesy and attention to ; business. *'■-':

Mr Coltman witb pleasure moved _. that the Board place bn record its appreciation; of. the long and faithful services/of Mr .Talbot as chairman, and thank him for his : courtesy to members \at all times. Mr. Coltman said members had been very much indebted ; to the chah-mari for the lucid way he placed the : business befoie the- Boardi so ihatit was easy .for--mem-bers to understand and deal with it. And he: did; it in; such a way did not giv-s .members" the impression ;tnat.'he. wanted Mr Craigie seconded ■ the motion, and spoke of the value of ""Mr Talbot's long experience, good serce, and his habit of acquiring .... a: 7 full '' knowledge of /the; -business before /he came to a meeting. r ite approved of the chairman's lemarks on, vhe paet'vear's work,. and the future requirements: The new Old Men's Home .was'a, very important' thing. Some parts of the present buildings were forty years old, and .though 5 -not insanitary,, t.he wholebuilding was in the wrong : place. As this was Their /last meeting, ne thought they, should, give an indication to .the next Board that it. should be : dealt: with. He hoped tlie consumptive sanatorium would be: Viut ■'through in such a way that this. Board • could •'. fall in /with ■ it, . The iwhole; thing had "been' : mixed up; if the Geverir-h-ient had taken .the lead this Board; hiid given -them '. it, would have- been; all right, regarding incurables, he agreed with tbe chairman that provision for these wasVa Task for.the dominion./ a/

.: Mi- Maslin said all members would, endorse the . remarks of. the mover and - seconder,', iand /the motion was put' by; -the secretary and carried unanimously.- - ■ ! The chairman thaaked;the members for their kind ; remarks. .He added J 'thafc '■> he had? omitted:to mention-in his. report, an extract; from the• Inspector-General's "re-

port, on his visit to the hospital in June last. This stated '.hat the conduct of the hospital under Dr Unwin had been successful, and the institution was in good order except in regard to some of the ventilation. The average cost of maintenance per patient last year was 5s sjjd, less patient's payment:;' 4s 6|d. which complied very favourably with the cost at-otlur hospitals.* *Tlil* chairman remarked' that if any hospital was' well ventilated this one should! be- , for 'they had numberless experts at work upon it. Dr Bet-t taid the case referred to was one ward. . Everv alternate window could be opened, and Dr: Valintine thought thev should nil be made to open llie carpenter as -he- found time, could do that, as he had done the others. Mr Maslin said they had a very capable and energetic secretary, who'was deprived of doing any other work, and in recognition ■ of his. very capable servicer, he" moved that the secretary's salary : be increased next year from £225 to £250. Mr Graigie iseconded this. He had'come a good deal.in contact with Mr Russell,, and Irad found' hiiii.energetic, and in his management of the 'difficult people he sometimes had to deal .with firm yet kind. ' •

Mr Lyall did not think £225 sufficient for a:manin his position.: " The motion was carried inlanimovfsly. At- the clos? of the ordinary business the work of the year was wound up by Mr Studhol.me proposing and Mr Coltman seconding a vote of appreciation, of the-services of the staff. The hospital, said the mover, had'been running' smoothly during the year and economically also. The staff- had worked well --and :amicably and he hoped next year's : Board would have equal reason for" satisfaction on that 'account. ','■'-.-' : . -,

The chairman 'thought tlie vote well deserved,- and it '-would apply to the Old Men's' Home!' and 'the;>:ecietaiy's. office. Tha-Beard jfad good reason to congratulate, themselves oxi the', appointment they had made in Dr : Bert: as resident surgeon. -The, motion was. carried unanimously.