WRONG CONCEPTION

Waikato Times, Volume 129, Issue 21549, 11 October 1941, Page 8

WRONG CONCEPTION

SOLDIERS’ HOSPITALS CHARGE AGAINST MINISTER MAKESHIFT ACCOMMODATION “In my opinion the Minister of Health has a completely wrong conception of what is required in the | matter of providing the necessary • accommodation for sick and wounded j soldiers returning from overseas,” j said Mr R. S. R. Seddon, chairman I of the Hamilton Soldiers’ Hospital S Society, in an interview this morn-1 ing. | “We have no idea how long the i war is likely to last,’’ continued Mr) Seddon, “and from the present time j onward, possibly during a period j which may easily last from two to four years or even longer, we may have to cope with the necessity of providing suitable accommodation j for many thousands of cases. A large ! percentage of these cases may need | prolonged treatment. “It is generally realised that hos- j pital accommodation is being severely taxed all over New Zealand and can j barely cope with the requirements; of the civil population. As the Health j Department remains satisfied that' the makeshift accommodation will j meet the needs of the soldiers, it is 1 necessary that the public, whose sons, brothers or husbands may be among the sufferers, should demand that adequate and suitable bulidings be erected without further delay. | National Concern “A new wireless station was opened at Auckland with the preliminary announcement that one of the reasons for its erection was for the better health of the staff, but the Minister of Health appears to think that any makeshift is suitable for the men who are sacrificing far more than their health. I am convinced that the majority of people are satisfied that it is unjust, to throw the onus of building soldiers’ hospitals i on to the local hospital boards, as 1 this is obviously a national concern l and not a parochial one.’’ \ Mr Seddon said that as the Minister of Health had not replied to 1 the three questions asked by Mr C. A. Barrell. M.P. for Hamilton, a ( fortnight ago on behalf of the Ham- j ilton Soldiers' Hospital Society, a 1 telegram had been sent to Mr Barrel! asking him to repeat them as urgent * questions in the House. 1