11.—9

12

HAMILTON HOSPITAL. This hospital, which had just been opened, I inspected on the 21st February. It is situated very suitably on the brow of a hill about a mile from town. It consists of an ordinary six-roomed house with a kitchen, washhouse, and porter's room behind. There is also a small mortuary, and an old outhouse contains a coal-house and a two-stalled stable. There were eleven patients on the day of my visit, and one of them was a very severe accident case, which was being carefully and skilfully treated. I formed the highest opinion of Nurse Sandison's fitness for having charge of the hospital, though I found she and her assistant were overwhelmed with work owing to the amount of nursing required by some of the patients. The building is evidently much too small to meet the requirements of this wide district, and steps must soon be taken to enlarge it. 21st February, 1888.

KUMAEA HOSPITAL. I was glad to find a change had taken place in the mastership of this hospital since my last visitMr. and Mrs. O'Connell, who are now in charge, have had large hospital experience both in Dunedin and Thames hospitals; and, so far as I could judge, a great change for the better has taken place. I found the baths on both sides of the house so badly constructed that they could not bo emptied, so that there was constantly a pool in the bottom. The closet, to which I objected at my last visit, has been removed and a now one, properly ventilated, has been built. There were three patients in the hospital at the time of my visit, two males suffering from eye affections and one female with ulcerated legs. This is a very comfortable cottage hospital, and it is well managed in every respect. 21st January, 1888.

TUAPEKA-LAWEENCE HOSPITAL. Since Dr. Withers's return the surroundings of this hospital have been greatly smartened up. There is no change in the internal arrangements. The beds are old wooden or inferior iron beds with two or three patent Monckton beds. There were fifteen male and six female patients, who were all loud in their praises of the doctor and his staff. The in-patients for the year numbered 150 and the out-patients 60. 21st March, 1888.

MASTEETON. This is one of the most comfortable hospitals in the country, and at my former visit it was, perhaps, the best kept. This year I noticed a falling-off in this respect. There were three patients at the time of my visit. For the year ending the 31st December there were thirty-five patients in all. The total expenditure was £475, with £111 of liabilities.

OAMAEU HOSPITAL. I was glad to find that a change had been made in the custodians of this hospital. Mr. and MrsDesmond are a great improvement on their predecessors. The hospital, notwitstanding the unnecessary labour entailed by its being divided into so many wards, is perfectly clean and cheerful throughout. The patients number seven males and three females. I found that many of the patients came from remote stations, where their diet is usually monotonous, being especially deficient in vegetables, and tea is consumed in excessive quantities. Nothing is more valuable in such circumstances than a well-stocked vegetable garden. It was objected that vegetables can be bought more cheaply than than they can be grown; but then I found that they were not bought, and I was glad at my last visit to see a portion of the large reserve being prepared for a garden. Of course, unless the trustees keep up the pressure, the garden will be found to cost more than it is worth. It is very creditable to find that voluntary subscriptions for the year amounted to £353, and that patients' maintenance was £81; while rents brought in £200, and interest on mortgages, and deposits, £129, showing careful and provident management in the past. 27th March, 1888.

NELSON HOSPITAL. Gkeat improvements have been effected in the surroundings of this hospital since my last visitA lawn has been sown down in front, asphalt channelling and drainage have been provided al^ round the building. A new laundry has been erected, fitted with two new coppers, at a cost of £110. The sholter-shed for the fire-hose seems needlessly elaborate, and too far from the building. The radical fact that this hospital was built in anticipation of a future that never came must not be forgotten in any criticism of its present condition. This hospital, like that of Timaru and those now in course of construction at New Plymouth and Eiverton, are monuments of the extravagant ideas that seem to be endemic. Except for this great drawback, this is one of the most homelike, comfortable, and kindly-managed institutions in the country; and it keeps up its character in this respect, for I find seven out of the sixteen male patients and two females might quite well be cared for in the refuge—at any rate, they are not proper hospital cases. The in-patients last year numbered, 102; out-patients, 398; while the reapplications were 796. 16th June, 1887.