HOSPITAL BOARD.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 48, Issue 14624, 25 March 1922, Page 3

HOSPITAL BOARD.

ESTIMATES FOE THE YEAS. A special meeting of the Board Jii'id vvsr.wchiv for the purpose of framing tin* oxii mates for the ensuing year. Those present were: Messrs, B. ft. Eton (chairman), W. Fisher. T. \ . Moore, S. Bolton, .1, C. Ewington, W. B. Matheson, A. ,T. Speedy, W. B. -Martin, ,i. D. Wilson, W. I. Armstrong, Arch. Clark, IT. 11. Mawley, R. B. Eoberteon, and Q. Donald. The chairman presented the following report for the past year: — The gross estimated ordinary maintenance ..expenditure totalled £29,188, made up as follows: —Mastertou Hospital £12,965, Grcytown £15530, rahiatua £2870, Soiwav Home £1055, charitable aid £2-175, administration £2900. The actual expenditure .to date is: Masterton Hospital £11,302, Grevtown £(is:;::, Pahiatua £2224, Solway Home £959, charitable aid £2725, administration £2690. The savings effected are: — Mastcrton Hospital £1166, Solway Homo v £96, and administration £2OO-—a total of £1562. The 'Grevtown Hospital exceeded the estimate by £3, Pahiatua Hospital by £264, and charitable aid by £250 —a total of £617, leaving a net saving in the aggregate of £045. The two principal items on the Masterton Hospital account—provisions, ami surgery and dispensary —together show a saving of £1270. Fuel and light lias, however, exceeded tlic estimate by. nearly £IOO, and repairs to buildings also exceeded the estimate by £llO. A further saving of over'£2oo was effect, in the nursing staff salaries, but. the domestic wages exceeded the estimate by £l7O. ' *At Grevtown, provisions exceeded the estimate, 'by £123, renewals and repairs by £2oo,''asd domestic wages by £l2O. The principal savings were: Repairs to buildings £250, and nursing staff salaries £l6O.

The principal items to exceed the estimate at Pahiatua were fuel and light. £9O, renewals and repairs £72, and repairs to buildings £144. ! Solway Home expenditure is £IOO under the’estimate, but charitable aid is already £250 in excess, with at least one claim by a local body of £IOO, or more, yet to come in. The principal item of increase appears under the heading of “Maintenance in other Hospitals and Sanatoria,” which exceeded the estimate by over£4oo. Other notable increases are> claims for refund of monies disbursed by Pahiatua and Grevtown Borough, which exceed the estimates by £73 and £4O respectively. The £2OO saved under “administration” is made up principally by salaries £145, printing and stationery £45, office cleaning £25, telegrams and postages £ls, Ekctalnuia district nurse £4O, asd audit fee £4O. This latter item, however, will in all probability be paid before March 31. There are also some further payments to make under the heading of members’ travelling expenses, so that tho net saving will be about £250. Coming to the receipts, we find the patients’ fees are considerably under the estimate, as follow: —Mastcrton £605, Grcytown £473 and Pahiatua £328 —a total deficiency of £1406. Other estimated receipts totalled £540, and the actual'to date are £538. There is thus an actual net deficiency of £460 on the ordinary maintenance estimates. The estimated expenditure on the estimates approximates £26,550, as compared with £29,188 last year. One item, however, calls for special mention — that of interest on loans, which previously was an item under ordinary maintenance, but has now to be paid out of capital, and represents a sum of £920. This, of course, is subsidised by the Government to the extent of £ for £, as compared with 12s 3d previously.

In ’speaking to the report, the chairman pointed out that considerable savings had been effected in many items, particularly provisions. But other votes had been exceeded, especially tho item “Maintenance in Sanatoria,” which, perhaps, needed some little explanation; i.t included treatment of patients in Otaki and Pukeora Sanatoria, and it was pleasing to note that the patients had derived considerable benefit from the treatment received, so that it was money well spent. The same remarks also applied-to those cases receiving special orthopedic treatment at tho Trentliani Military Hospital. The report was aclop.tel. Tho estimates, as approved by the Board, are as follow:—Mastertou Hospital £11,670, Grcytown £6490, Pahiatua £3020, Solway Home £IO6O, social welfare £2630/ administration £lBlO, capital works (including repayment of loans) £2460 —a total of £29,140, less estimated receipts, patients’ fees, etc., £3850, leaving a deficiency of £25,290 to be raised bv levy and subsidy, as compared with’ £27,3226 for the year just* ending, an apparent reduction of about £2OOO, but actually a reduction, in round figures, of £5500, owing to the fact that the previous year ended with a credit balance, of £3500, whereas it is anticipated that there will be little or no credit balance at the close of the present financial year.