QUITE ADEQUATE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21086, 12 July 1938, Page 9

QUITE ADEQUATE

Maternity Services South Canterbury District Public maternity hospital facilities are provided by the South Canterbury Hospital Board in a fifteen-bed maternity block. Last year 169 maternity cases were attended, giving an average of 7.7 occupied beds. This block is shortly to be replaced by a new maternity wing, says the report of the Committee of Inquiry into maternity services in the Dominion.

The hospital is of the "closed” type, under the administrative control of the Medical Superintendent of the Timaru Hospital, with a visiting obstetrician in charge and a resident house surgeon acting under him. A doctor is present at all confinements. In normal cases the house surgeon attends, but in abnormal cases the visiting obstetrician is called or, in his absence, the Medical Superintendent.

Sedatives are used according to medical instruction, and since a doctor is always in attendance a satisfactory degree of anaesthesia can be given in all cases.

The hospital is a training school for maternity nurses.

During the last twelve months it has been possible to have a medical studenl in residence and to give him the opportunity of delivering a number o’ maternity cases under supervision.

The hospital fee is £4/4/- per week. Provision is made for unmarried mothers who apply for help, and the Board appears to have an excellent social service committee, which makes recommendations regarding indigent cases.

The question of opening the hospital to the local medical practitioners was discussed, but the Medical Superintendent and the visiting obstetricians were not in favour of this course, considering that it would interfere with the training of nurses and introduce different standards of maternity care

There are three private maternity hospitals—one of eleven beds, one of three beds, and one of two beds. The medical practitioners of Timaru were apparently satisfied that the private facilities available were adequate. An ante-natal clinic is conducted by the Sister in charge of the maternity block, supervised by the visiting obstetrician, who sees all patients on one or more occasions. In private cases the doctors prefer to do their own ante-natal supervision and, although the Plunket Nurse gives some advice, there appears to be little co-operation between the nurse and the doctors in this branch of the work. Country Districts An excellent feature of the South Canterbury Board’s policy is the provision of small hospitals to serve the needs of the outlying areas. The details concerning these hospitals are given in the accompanying table. Average No. of No. of No. of Maternity Occupied Cases Beds. Beds. Per Year. Fairlie 4 1.2 39 Geraldine .... 6 1.9 54 Temuka 6 2.7 83 Every case in these hospitals is attended by a doctor, and the fees are £4/4/. per week, plus medical fees.

Fairlie has one medical practitioner, Geraldine has two medical practitioners and a district nurse who does general work, Temuka has two medical practitioners, and in addition to the public hospital there is one private maternity hospital.

There are about three hundred Maoris living in the Temuka district, some of whom enter the Temuka Hospital for confinement. The Committee had no opportunity of inspecting Maori living-conditions, but evidence was given that many Maoris were confined in their own homes under unsatisfac-

tory conditions. In order to encourage hospitalisation, the Committee is of the opinion that a district nurse should be made available to carry on educational work, to give ante-natal care, and to arrange for admission to hospital. Waimate There is no public maternity hospital in Waimate, but the Board subsidises the lessee of the Waimate private maternity hospital to the extent of £3/3/- per week for all indigent cases. Board patients have averaged eighteen per year during the last three years.

All cases are attended by the local doctors, but no medical fees are paid by the Board for attendance on indigent cases. This hospital appears to be adequate for the needs of the district.

The South Canterbury Board pays one-sixth of the annual cost of maintaining the Kurow Hospital, which is controlled by the Waitaki Hospital Board, but which admits South Canterbury patients from the Hakataramea district. Summary and Recommendations The Committee was impressed with the very satisfactory maternity services provided by the South Canterbury Hospital Board, and is of the opinion that, with the new maternity annexe, the local requirements will be very adequately met. The Committee endorses the principle of appointing an obstetrician to the Timaru Hospital. In conformity with its general policy, however, the Committee recommends that the maternity ward be open to the medical practitioners for the treatment of private patients.