Report of the Department of Health / New Zealand.

  • New Zealand. Department of Health.
Date:
[1971]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Report of the Department of Health / New Zealand. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/136 (page 5)
    board old people’s homes and persons classified as “non-hospital” cases. This charge had not been reviewed since 1961. It was recommended that the previous charge of $1.75 be increased to $2.75 per day and that the liquid assets level be reduced to $1,000. These recommenda¬ tions were approved and became effective from 1 August 1970. HOSPITAL WORKS COMMITTEE The Hospital Works Committee met 13 times during the year, making recommendations to the Minister of Health on the following subjects: (1) Hospital boards— Development schemes . . . . 4 Building and engineering projects . . . 157 Land purchase and sale . . . . 4 Hospital works loans . . . . 19 General items . . . . . 34 (2) Private hospital loan applications . . . 2 (3) Group practice loan schemes . . . . 6 (4) Old people’s homes and pensioners’ flats . . 37 (5) Mental health building and engineering projects . 39 Although 157 hospital board building and engineering projects were considered by the committee, 36 of these were examined on more than one occasion. The committee examines each project at the various stages from approval in principle to the acceptance of tenders and also examines and makes recommendations on projects for the mental health service, private hospital loans, old people’s homes, and pensioner flats. With the introduction this year of the group practice loan scheme, the activity of the committee has been extended to include the con¬ sideration of applications for loans. As in the past, all building proposals for the care of the sick and aged are co-ordinated through the com¬ mittee. There has been a substantial increase in the number and value of projects for which tenders have been accepted during the year. For the year ended 31 March 1970, 47 tenders were accepted, the total value being $12.37 million. During the year ended 31 March 1971, 63 tenders totalling in value $31.53 million were accepted. These include several major hospital buildings which, together with those already under construction, will provide an additional 1,900 patient beds over the next 5 years. In addition, these buildings and associated engineering services will also provide modern clinical and outpatient facilities, including diagnostic X-ray pathology services, physiotherapy and occupational therapy departments. THE ENVIRONMENT In recent years, new emphasis reminds us that the quality of our environment is degradable to unacceptable levels. Increasing popula¬ tion and the problems of expanding technology threaten to create great quantities of waste products and exhaust vital resources. This current concern is not new. My predecessor in the department’s first annual report of 1901 referred to pollution of rivers and streams by sewage. The several Health Acts since passed have provided for