How to Finance Better

Medical Services Reader Suggests Fijian Lottery

(A Letter to the Editor) IF local public opinion is correct, Dr.

Kenneth James Gilchrist, who re cently arrived in the Colony to take up his appointment as surgeon specialist at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital, Suva, faces two main difficulties: short age of senior nursing staff, and inade quately trained native nurses.

Lately the Medical Department has been criticised because of poor nursing at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital, inadequacies in the training of local girls as nurses, and lack of medical service in country districts. It would be safe to say, however, that most parts of the Empire suffer, not only from serious shortages of doctors and nurses, but also from the public’s customary reluctance to provide the necessary funds for ade quate medical services.

This Colony recruits its senior nursing and specialist staff, down to staff nurses, from New Zealand. Native nurses, in or out of training, staff the wards, and bright, cheery souls they are. But owing to their poor elementary education, and happy-go-lucky native temperament, they are not to be compared with, nor should they be expected to measure up to, the New Zealand or Australian nurse with her sound training. Therefore they re quire constant supervision. But our Euro pean senior nurses, who are both over worked and underpaid, lack the neces sary time —and many of them lack a cer tain necessary understanding of the native mind—so that poor nursing re sults.

The Lautoka hospital lacks adequate accommodation for European maternity cases: the Suva hospital admits European mid-wifery patients only when the con dition is abnormal, and there is no special accommodation for either mothers or in fants.

The medical staff, which is aware of these deficiencies, can claim that the re medy lies with the public—let the hos pitals be provided with more money for a larger and a better-paid and better trained staff, and better nursing will re sult.

The last argument is sound, but can the Colony’s medical services be made really first-class if the Medical Depart ment carries on, as Fiji’s Mecffcal De partment has for so long, with an act ing Director? Colonial administration defipitely does not lend itself to innova tions by acting heads of departments.

From the experience of other coun tries, it would seem that a State lottery could very well be conducted here for the maintenance and improvement of our hospitals. This was recently suggested in the Legislative Council by the Hon.

H. H. Ragg.

But no doubt the whole question is ade quately provided for in the Colony’s un revealed and mystical Post-War Develop ment Plan!

Suva, Fiji. I am, etc.,

August 14, 1946.

“White Fijian.”

The engagement is announced of Miss Beryl (Betty) Frazer, younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. N. Frazer, of Balwyn, Melbourne, (formerly, Wau, New Guinea), to Mr. Harry Leslie, only son of Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Leslie, Prill Park Station, Euston, NSW. Miss Frazer was a member of the Administration Staff in Wau, prior to the evacuation.