FT.—3l

8

Sitting-room for women and locker-room for patients' clothes at the Cashmere Hills Sanatorium, Christchurch; estimated cost, £370. Alterations and additions to present laundry, to provide for the inauguration of a steamlaundry, Wairarapa; estimated cost, £700. Nurses' Home at Timaru Hospital, to be built in brick and concrete, with concrete partitions. To accommodate Matron and thirty-eight nurses; estimated cost, £9,000. Nurses' Home, infectious-diseases block, and laundry, Thames; estimated cost, £12,500. At Taumarunui: (a) Erection of new hospital, including Soldiers' Memorial Ward; (6) Nurses' Home; (c) infectious block; (d) laundry block; («) furnishing for above; (/) laying on water from Taumarunui Borough supply; (g) fencing, clearing, grassing, levelling, and laying off grounds, and planting; (h) mortuary; (i) drainage; (j) stockyards, sheds, and implements; (k) cottage for caretaker and porter : (I) clerk of works, architect fees, and travelling-expenses; estimated cost, £31,000. Nurses' Home, Taranaki, to accommodate forty-eight nurses and six maids; estimated cost, £6,500. New ward at main Hospital, Wellington, and addition to sick nurses' quarters; estimated cost, £6,500. Erection of Cottage Hospital at Oxford, North Canterbury; estimated cost, £4,003. Erection of Maternity Home Cottage Hospital at Waikari; estimated cost, £4,500. Alterations to residence at Caversham, Dunedin, for use as Childrens' Convalescent Home; estimated cost, £1,500. At Southland : First, pavilion, two-storied, with side ward and main corridor between same, to take sixty beds; also, with main arterial corridor from Octagon Hall (singlestoried only in the meantime); laundry block and equipment; kitchen and central apartments; Nurses' Home, and covered ways to same; medico's dining-room for nurses' use. Estimated cost, £37,600. Dwellinghouse consisting of five living-rooms, three bedrooms, kitchen, and usual accessories for House-manager, Hamilton; estimated cost, £900. Alterations and additions to the property known as " Holm dale," Wairau, for the purposes of a Maternity Hospital; estimated cost, £2,779. Sanitary annex, Waimate Hospital; estimated cost, £500. Maternity and Child-welfare. Hospital Boards have been advised to consider the question of setting up Committees under section 64 of the Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Act with a view to attending to the health of expectant mothers and of young children. Several Boards have attempted to deal with this important question, wliile others are not sufficiently sure of their powers and scope. In my opinion, there is already sufficient organizations in the Dominion to adequately deal with the problems under the above heading. At present we have (a) St. Helens Hospitals; (b) Plunket Society; (c) Society for Protection of Women and Children; (d) efforts by Hospital Boards to establish maternity hospitals throughout their respective districts; (c) appointment of departmental District Nurses and Midwives; and (/) instances of where Boards have established homes to deal with single women and wives of poor men who cannot afford to enter nursing homes. In addition, the Department has published " The Expectant Mother and Baby's First Month " and " Feeding and Care of the Baby." All these things are at present only for those who seek them. Any organization decided upon should not overlap any of the work undertaken by the above bodies, but rather should be a body having some authority to investigate judiciously the conditions under which expectant mothers and infants are living. When it is seen that advice or assistance is desirable or necessary there should be some means to bring such cases to a point where they can be followed up by one of the bodies enumerated above. By this means care could be taken of those unable or unwilling to care for themselves. Sale of Food and Drugs Act. The existing regulations have been sufficient to afford, indeed, a strong measure of protection to the public as aimed at in the Act, but out of past experience and in the light of modern scientific development it is necessary to make extensions which are being drafted as opportunity will allow. A great deal more work could usefully be devoted to this Act and its regulations. Especially is this the case with Inspectors in the various districts, but as these officers usually combine duties under the Public Health Act as well, there are frequently occasions when food and drugs work cannot receive due attention. There should be more Inspectors. Quackery Prevention Act. This is another Act that dues not, receive its proper measure of attention. Although the scope of the Act in some instances appears rather open to controversy, I believe that more protection'could be given for the public than at present by toning down to a great extent some of the extravagant claims appearing as advertisements in the daily newspapers. I noticed during the year a case of a successful prosecution by the police, independent of this Act. The case related to a rheumatism-cure, which was effectually dealt with as fraud or misrepresentation under the Crimes Act. Given more facilities for this work (along with other work as mentioned herein) and with closer co-operation with the Police Department a very useful and necessary service in the desired direction could be undertaken.