Report of the Director-General of Public Health, New South Wales.

  • New South Wales. Department of Public Health.
Date:
[1930]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Director-General of Public Health, New South Wales. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    16/180 (page 8)
    The branch of the Microbiological Laboratory established at the Broken Hill Hospital has provided a satisfactory service both for the hospital and the practitioners in the town and a great number of both bacteriological and bio-chemical examinations have been carried out. Division of State Hospitals. Coast Hospital.—The Medical Superintendent of the Coast Hospital (page 92) states that the number of admissions for 1930 was 547 more than in 1929, the figures for the respective years being 10,454 (infectious cases, 3,498) in 1929, and 11,001 (infectious cases, 3,568) in 1930. The total cost for the 11,715 patients under treatment during 1930 was £123,057, or an average cost per bed of £162 7s., compared with an average cost of £172 12s. in 1929. Collections from patients amounted to £15,398, so that the actual cost of maintenance was £107,639. During the year a new X-rav plant was installed, and a start made with the erection of quarters for the Resident Medical Staff. In addition to improvements undertaken by the Public Works Department, a very considerable amount of repair work and minor alterations were carried out by the hospital staff. The Leper Lazaret at Little Bay is under the direct supervision of the Medical Superintendent of the Coast Hospital. During 1930 four persons were admitted to the Lazaret, and four persons died. At the end of the year twenty persons (seventeen males and three females) remained under detention. State Hospitals and Homes. INdcombe Stale Hospital and Home (page 116).—The total accommodation at this Institution comprises 1,693 beds, of which 972 are in the hospital and 721 in the home division. In his report the Medical Superintendent calls attention to the increasing practice by metropolitan and country hospitals of unloading on to this hospital their chronic cases, which has resulted in its gradual evolution into a hospital rather than a home, and this alteration, involving, as it does, increased medical attention adds support to the request which has been made already for an increase in the Resident Medical Staff. The opening during 1930 of an X-ray department and erection in the Institution grounds of the first unit (fifty beds) of an infectious diseases hospital for the western suburbs points to the likelihood of the Institution developing more and more into a general hospital. Liverpool State Hospital for Men (page 117) contains 757 beds, 392 of which are in the hospital division and 465 in the home section. In the hospital section there are twenty-five beds reserved for ordinary male medical and surgical cases from the surrounding district. The number of inmates during July, 1930, reached a total of 889, and the accommodation in the Institution has been severely taxed during the greater part of the year. Improvements in progress comprise erection of nurses’ quarters, manager’s residence and a recreation hall for use of the inmates. The erection of the two last-mentioned structures led to the demolition of the old disused Moore College building, which occupied portion of the site. Newington State Hospital and Home for Women (page 119).-—The average daily number of women resident in 1930 was 654. Beds in the hospital division number 373, and in the home section 306. Additions carried out during the year included erection of a commodious shelter room and library, and much needed improvements to some of the quarters. Plans have been prepared for erection of nurses’ quarters, but the work is still in abeyance. Revenue Collections.—Payments into revenue from the various State Hospitals and Homes during 1930 (excluding the Coast Hospital and Waterfall Sanatorium) amounted to £30,792, which reduced the total cost of upkeep to £170,380, or an annual maintenance cost of £51 Is. 3d. for the daily average of 3,696 persons during 1930. Appreciative thanks are tendered by the Department to the honorary medical officers on the staffs of the various State Hospitals and Homes who gratuitously give their service for the alleviation of the sufferings of the sick, and also to the many benevolent citizens and the members of the various societies who so willingly provide entertainment and additional comforts for the old folk. Closing of Montrose Maternity Hospital (Burwood) and Fernleigh Rest Home (Ashfield). Montrose Maternity Hospital, Lucas-road and Waimea-strect, Burwood, which was opened on 17th January, 1920, was closed as a maternity hospital on 12th May, 1930. The premises have since been taken over by the Child Welfare Department. When m use as a maternity hospital it was utilised for those persons whose financial position warranted their being cared for gratuitously, the cases received being the poorer people in crowded suburban areas. Montrose was a recognised training school, and was used for the training in midwifery of certificated general nurses employed by the Department. Fernleigh Rest Home, Victoria-street, Ashfield, was opened in January, 1920, for indigent pre- and post-maternity cases. When it was decided to close Montrose the Fernleigh home was no longer required and was vacated on 31st January, 1930. The property was sold by the Crown to the United Grand Lodge of Freemasons for use as a hospital Diabetes Mellitus and Insultn Treatment. In July, 1927, provision was made for this Department to supply insulin to indigent diabetic patients who were otherwise unable to obtain it. On creation of the Hospitals Commission this service was regarded as properly falling within t he scope of its activities, and it was therefore discontinued by the Department at the end of dune, 1930. Cemeteries, Exhumations, Crematoria. Generally speaking, it is usually only when questions of nuisance and other conditions likely to affect health are involved that the subject of cemeteries comes under notice of this Department. The question of providing necessary areas for burial purposes is dealt with bv the Lands Department.