NURSE HAS TO ANSWER CHARGES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17854, 24 May 1926, Page 10

NURSE HAS TO ANSWER CHARGES.

LAPSES ARE ALLEGED ~ IN MATERNITY CASES.

Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, May 22. The licensee of the Willesden Private Hospital, Mrs E. J. Fullerton-Whyte, has to answer five charges relating to breaches in the treatment of maternity cases. The charges were preferred against her in the Police Court, before Mr F. K. Hunt, S.M. The case was adjourned until Thursday. Mr Patterson appeared for the Health Department. Dr J. 11. Crawshaw, Medical Officer of Health at Dunedin, gave evidence that in October last he was in Auckland, and on October 20, in consequence of a notification received, he visited Willesden Hospital. lie found that Mrs Strong was going to the public hospital, as her medical adviser considered she had sepsis. In the sarpe room as Mrs Strong there were two other patients, Mrs Edwards and Mrs Hamilton. Witness insisted that Mrs Edwards should also go to hospital. There were five other cases in the hospital, and he communicated with their respective doctors to see whether they would allow their patients to proceed home. All left Willesden Hospital. Witness ordered the hospital to be closed for five days, and instructed Sister Connie Whyte (who was in charge), also Nurse Charlesworth, not to attend any other cases for a similar period. There was no excuse for a nurse failing to record a temperature of over 100 degrees. Mr Moody: If a doctor attended one of these patients and took a temperature of 102 and did not order her immediate isolation would you say he was careless? —That is not quite fair, to ask me to criticise another medical man.

Do you know that Mrs FullertonVVhyte rang up the various doctors and asked them to remove their patients? —~Ni). Dr Tom Lakin Paget, Inspector of Hospitals for the Department; of Health, said that with Dr Crawshaw he inspected \Villesden on October 21. At that time the hospital was closed and was being disinfected. He took charge of the Charts. He would say that the general character of the temperature charts was not accurate. There was a characteristic about the charts which indicated an inaccurate record. “'itness asked Nurse Charles~ worth if she was present at the confincmcnts of Mrs Strong and Mrs Edwards, and she replied that she was. Later, at Fencourt, he saw Mrs Fullerton»Wh_vte and asked defendant who was present at the two confinements, and she said that Nurse Charlesworth was. He asked defendant if she had been at \Villesden since the outbreak of sepsis. The object of these questions was to make sure that, l\lrs Ful-lerton-‘Vhrle would not carry infection from \Villesden to Fencourt, However. he found that defendant had not told him the truth about this. As a result, Fencourt was ordered to be closed on October 23. Subsequently, with Dr 11. Pettit, he saw defendant at Fencourt, when he charged Mrs Fullerton-\Vhyte with deceiving him by not telling him that she was present at the confinements of Mrs Edwards and Mrs Strong. and with having stated untruthfully that she had not been at \K'illcsden since the outbreak of sepsis. Defendant then replied that witness had never asked her. \Vitness pointed out, that defendant knew that under the regulations She had no right to continue nursing patients after exposing herself to infection by attending the two patients. Mr Hunt: Did any of the Fencourt patients develop sepsis? “'itness: No. On representations made by Dr Pettit, who 'had patients ..waiting to enter, witness agreed to allow Fencourt to be open after iin~ posing the most stringent restrictions. \Vitness said he regretted he could not ltrust Mrs Fullerton-\Vhyte, and asked lDr Pcttit to undertake all precautions ‘and notify the Department of any high temperatures. This the doctor undertook to do, and witness allowed the hospital to rc-upen with an entirely new staff. and only after—it had been thoroughly disinfected. Once a patient was septic this always could be found to have commenced immediately after. the rise of temperature. Mr Moody: You heard Dr Hart say that Mrs Strong was confined on October 17 and .that the following day she was quite well?‘\'es.

Mr Moody: Look at this Chart of Mrs Gumley's. is this specific Chart what we might \‘ulgarly call "faked”? __,l won't express an opinion about any individual chart