Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Medical Services in New Zealand and The Pacific

APPENDIX A — INSTRUCTIONS TO HOSPITAL BOARDS IN CONNECTION WITH THE CARE AND TREATMENT OF ARMY SICK AND WOUNDED

page 395

APPENDIX A
INSTRUCTIONS TO HOSPITAL BOARDS IN CONNECTION WITH THE CARE AND TREATMENT OF ARMY SICK AND WOUNDED

Issued by Director-General of Health, November 1939
1.

From the moment a sick or wounded man is admitted into Hospital administered under the provisions of the Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Act, while he remains a soldier and until he is fit to rejoin the Army he is the responsibility of the Department of Health.

2.

For this purpose Public Hospitals have been selected to treat all cases.

3.

The sick from camp will be delivered to the Hospital door by the Army Department which will be responsible for arranging with the Hospital Superintendent for all admissions.

4.

When ready for discharge the Medical Superintendent of the Hospital treating the Army patient will telephone the local Area Officer of the Army for instructions as to disposal, at the same time advising him whether the patient should have leave before returning to camp or report direct thereto from the Hospital.

5.

The Army Department has no jurisdiction over the actual treatment of the patient while in a public hospital, but the Hospital authorities are expected to give all information required by the Army to the Area Officer concerned.

6.

Unless considered necessary for Hospital Administration purposes, it is not obligatory to provide what are known as Military Wards or Wings. Soldier patients can be placed in ordinary wards in the same manner as civilians, but in all cases, officers must be separated from other ranks while in Hospital.1

7.

All ranks admitted to hospital to be subject to the ordinary hospital discipline, but should breaches of discipline be such as cannot be satisfactorily dealt with by the Superintendent the case is to be reported to the local Area Officer for disciplinary action.2

8.

Should any difficulty arise between the Hospital authorities and local Army representatives regarding any detail in connection with the hospitalisation of the patient, the matter is to be referred to the Department of Health, Wellington, and not to Army officers.

9.

The whole purpose of the scheme for the treatment of Army sick and wounded is to utilise the resources of the Public Hospital System in its usual sense and, as stated in paragraph (1), this is the responsibility of the Department of Health.

Medical Boards for Soldier Patients found unfit for further Service after Treatment in Public Hospitals

If in the opinion of the Medical Superintendent a soldier patient is unfit for further service with the Army, he will advise the Area Officer and notify the Medical Officer of Health of the District in which the hospital is situated, who will make arrangements with the Regional Deputy to supply a Medical Board to examine the case.

1 This was later modified.

2 This had to be modified.