The management of public hospitals in New Zealand : presidential address, February 28th, 1905 / by Ernest Roberton.

  • Roberton, Ernest.
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The management of public hospitals in New Zealand : presidential address, February 28th, 1905 / by Ernest Roberton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    iinportance to us. Our Local Division, on behalf of the profession in this district, has for long urged the neces- sit} of some alteration in the law under which the managers of hospitals are appointed, from a conviction tliat the Hospital Boards, as at present constituted, lack elements which are necessary to real efficiency, and which, if present, would lessen the oft-recurring dis- putes and scandals which have arisen from one end of the colony to the other. If we consider the causes of these troubles—the ex- travagant expenditure, the erection of unsuitable build- ings, the appointment of an unworkable or unsuitable staff, the interference with medical or nursing arrange- ments, unnecessary and inconsistent changes in methods of management, the catering in the special interests of one section of the community, the pandering to those who have political influence—we And that behind all these lies the unsuitability of the Boards through want of expert knowledge or of other special qualifications for the work which they have to perform. The best proof that such special qualifications are wanting is to be found in the fact that where, as in the smaller hospitals, the work of mauagement is comparatively simple, troubles have been few. Ho special demands are made either on the intelligence or knowledge of the commit- tees. and the Boards are thus equal to their work. When, however, as in the larger towns, the hospitals are institu- tions of a decidedly complex nature, similar Boards are found wanting, and the attempts to manage through them have led to frequent trouble. It was not realised b}r those who arranged the constitution of the present Boards that in the larger hospitals, where, for proper administration, it is necessary to have a large staff of paid and honorary officials and servants, the managers should he able to rely on special technical knowledge possessed by some of their members, and should, more- over, have some special aptitude for controlling con- flicting interests. In some instances those in whose hands the law has placed the management have, with ■experience, shown themselves able to acknowledge this defect in their constitution, and, Avhen necessary, have