CO885-(11-12) — Page 350

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

། ། ༄། ། ག །

Reference :-

C.O.882/12

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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allowance the difference between the pay of Resident Medical Officer and that which would have been admissible to him if the post of Radiologist had been maintained; this is justified by his special training and his exceptional skill in interpretation. The balance of savings on the post, together with the unexpended part of the allotment of Rs.25,000 (paragraph 6) will in two years cover the cost of the new plant, and should later be employed for further additions to the nursing strength.

9. The Bacteriological Laboratory has two posts, those of the Superintendent and Government Analyst, for whom Rs.15,000 is provided in the budget, and of the Assistant Superintendent on Rs.6,000-8,000. Both these posts are at present vacant and the analytical work is in charge of a Scientific Assistant at Rs.4,000. Item No. 9 of Head 16 includes also a post of Rs.9,000-12,000 which is intended for the appointment of a Pathologist, but the appointment has not been made. There has been considerable difference of opinion, since the Chairman of the 1929 Commission sent in his report, as to, the functions of the officers of this branch and the qualifications necessary for the new appointment and, though the Colonial Advisory Medical and Sanitary Committee has recommended the appointment of a Deputy Director of Laboratory Services, on a pay of Rs.16,000, it has not defined the duties or qualifications of the post. The Committee thought that one Assist- ant would be sufficient, but made this recommendation on the misapprehension that analytical work could be done by the Agricul- tural Department (Lord Passfield's despatch No. 279 dated 18th November, 1930*). The present position is not satisfactory, and a department which is practically in abeyance and in regard to which authorities do not agree as to the nature or qualifications of the superior posts should normally expect to be the prey of retrench- ment. For this we would have a precedent inasmuch as the Royal Commission in 1909 recommended that this branch of the Medical Department should be abolished. It is true that their proposal was not carried out and was severely criticized twelve years later by Dr. Balfour, who in his report on the reorganization of the sanitary services of Mauritius said :-

I lay stress on this deplorable mistake made by the Com- missioners to show how the Mother Country may ruin her Colonies in trying to save a few thousand pounds a year.' Nevertheless the judgment of our predecessors appears to have been not without prevision when we read Dr. Kirk's description of the department at its most recent stage :-

"The unsatisfactory feature of the present arrangement is that only one qualified medical man is employed. He is assisted by a number of persons who have no medical qualifications and

C. 74585/30 [No. 8]: not printed.

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little general scientific knowledge. They have been able to master the few details of technique they have been taught by the Government Analyst and although their work has un- doubtedly a certain value, I very much doubt if it is worth the expenditure incurred. The attempt to combine chemical with medical qualifications is a survival of a practice which is now practically extinct."

We recognize, however, that a specialist service is really needed in this isolated Colony; the Medical Department cannot be confined to the practitioners who are absorbed by their duties in the hospitals or to the Health Officers who must be engrossed by the practical aspects of rural sanitation; and we are fortunate to find in Dr. Kirk's memorandum, recently submitted to the Secretary of State, an authoritative scheme which lucidly states the qualifications and duties of the officers who should compose the branch, and which has the practical merit of keeping the proposed expenditure well within the limits of the present budget provision. The proposed staff con- sists of a bacteriologist who will be the superintendent of the branch, a clinical pathologist and an analytical chemist, together with two laboratory attendants and a clerk. The rates of pay proposed for the two senior officers will be those already provided in the budget, that of the new post of analytical chemist will be Rs.8,000—10,000, which is Rs.2,000 in excess of that of the present post; we shall refer later to the rate which should be adopted. On the other hand the post of Assistant Superintendent on Rs.4,000 and one junior Microscopist on Rs.1,800 will be abolished and the students in training will be absorbed into the Health Service; in future any students in the branch must pay fees for the privilege and should not be given allowances. There should be a net saving of Rs.11,000. We endorse these proposals, but we must bring the proposed rates of pay within the scope of our general scheme of pay for the Civil Service.

10. We can now proceed to examine the system of medical relief outside the large hospitals. This consists of the six district hospitals and a subsidiary system of dispensaries.

Of these lesser institutions Moka Hospital stands in a class by itself. The skill and public spirit of the late Dr. Georges Leclezio not only gave Moka a fine reputation, but also obtained for it a better equipment, with the result that unlike the other hospitals in the country districts, Moka Hospital ordinarily takes operation cases. The Director's original scheme contemplated the rebuilding of the hospital and its expansion into an institution comparable to the Civil and Victoria Hospitals, but this project has been suspended; it is sufficient for our purpose that the hospital will for some time

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