355
1
41
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
3.In the year 1913 how many Military women and children were cared for in the Government Hospitals, and what fees did the Government receive in respect of such cases? Has there been any, and, if so, what increase in the Government Nursing Staff, and when, since the Government took over the care of such cases from the Military Authorities?
4. How many Sisters are there now on the Nursing Staff at the Government Civil Hospitals? Are two of such Sisters liable to be sent down to the Kennedy Town Hospital to nurse small-pox and other infectious diseases, and are two more of such Sisters attending for the greater part of their time to the nursing of private cases in different parts of the Colony?
and
not
Staff since the taking over of the Military cases. The admission of women children of the Garrison has materially increased the work of the Sisters, as the following figures will show :—
Daily Average of Patients Under Treatment
Civil Hospital.
1908
88.6
1909
90.2
1910
92.0
1911
91.2
1912
94.8
1913
85.6
Maternity Hospital.
1908
2.61
5.
How many Probationers are there now
1909
3.8
on the Government Nursing Staff, and how many
were there on the 23rd
1910
3.7
1911
4.07
October, 1913, and the 23rd April, 1914, respectively?
1912
4.57
1913
7.2
Victoria Hospital.
1911
14.24
1912
1913
10.35 14.04
6. When will the vacancies, which were caused by the marriages of two Sisters in April, 1914, be filled up? How long before such marriages did the Govern- ment know that they would take place, and has the Government taken any and what steps to fill up such vacancies
and when?
l'ê
Excluding infants
At At
Question 4: This question evidences considerable misapprehension. The Staff of Sisters at the Government Civil Hos- 7.—What is the maximum number of bedspital borne on the Estimates is 9.
which a
on night duty has Kennedy Town Hospital it is 2. Sister
Victoria Hospital it is 2. There are in attended to since the 1st May, 1913?
addition in residence at the Government Hospital 2 Private Nursing Sisters. THE COLONIAL SECRETARY
When the Sisters for Kennedy Town turned the following answers:-
Hospital are not required then they do duty at the Government Civil Hospital. When the Private Nursing Sisters are not out nursing they are available for duty at the Government Civil Hospital. At the present time there are 8 Sisters of the Government Civil Hospital Staff on duty at the Government Civil Hospital and also 2 Private Nursing Sisters who do not happen to be out nursing. There are three Sisters on duty at the Victoria Hospital. There are none at Kennedy Town Hospital. The Private Nursing Sisters are engaged at private nursing for about 9 months in the year each. One of them is thus available for 6 months in the year at the Government Civil Hos- pital. The Kennedy Town Hospital Sisters are for the greater part of the year employed at the Government Civil Hospital.
Question 1: On the 19th August, 1913, two Probationers were advertised for in the Hongkong Daily Press, and in the Hongkong Telegraph, in each case from 11th July, 1913, to 17th July, 1913. In the same papers three Probationers were advertised for from the 22nd to 28th November, 1913. Five Probationers were advertised for in the South China Morn- ing Post from the 6th to 12th March, 1914. Question 2: (a) Until recent years a fairly good supply of Probationers was forthcoming. () Yes.
Question 3:-208 Military women and children were cared for in the Govern- ment Hospitals in 1913, and $8,881.88 was received in fees on their account. These fees leave no profit to the Government. There has been no increase in the Nursing
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HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
Question 5-(4) Two. (.) Four. (e.) Two.
Question 6:-One vacancy was filled by the arrival of a Sister on the 30th April, 1914. The second vacancy has been filled and the Sister is expected to arrive at
the end of June.
Question 7-It is not possible to ascer- tain from the statistics kept the largest number of occupied beds which a Sister on night duty has attended to since the 1st of May, 1913. The daily average number of patients in the Civil Hospital in 1913 was 85.6, excluding maternity cases, while two Sisters were on night duty during that period, except during the month of August, when two fairly senior Probationer Nurses each did a fortnight of night duty instead of Sister. Two Sisters for night duty has been the recognised number for the last 10 years.
a
HON. MR. H. E. POLLOCK then, in accordance with notice previously given. moved the following resolution:
42
unofficial Justices of the Peace to inquire into the nursing staff question at the Government Civil Hospital, would there and then have been pressed home. The fourth question which I put at the last
meeting of the Council and the answer which was given to it by the Colonial Secretary are both of them so important that I will crave the indulgence of this Council to read them now. My fourth question was; —
summer
Was any written representation sent in by the Nurses on the Staff of the Government Civil Hospital to the Prin- cipal Civil Medical Officer last upon the subject of the insufficiency in at that numbers of the Nursing Staff Hospital Will the Government lay such written representation upon the table of this Council? Has any answer been sent to such written representation? will the Government lay such answer upou the table of this Council?
What steps, if any, have been taken, and when, to remedy such insufficiency?
If
So.
To that question the Colonial Secretary be replied as follows:-
That the Governor-in-Council requested to nominate (under the Com- missioners Powers Ordinance, 1886), five Unofficial Justices of the Peace as Com- missioners for the purpose of instituting, making and conducting an enquiry as to the sufficiency in numbers, efficiency, and organisation of the Nursing Staff at the Government Hospitals and as to their terms of service, pay and allowances,
1ION. MR. POLLOCK. in moving the resolution, said-Your Excellency, beg leave to move the motion of which have given notice, and as hon. members have it in printed form before them I trust that it may be taken as read. Sir, this motion is a continuation, so to speak, of a request which was made by my hon.
C'hamber friend representing the
of Commerce, when he was speaking on behalf of himself and the other unofficial members of the Council in his speech relating to the Estimates, on October 23rd, 1913, and I think, Sir, that it may be confidently stated that if my hon. friend had then been given the information which was supplied at the last meeting of this Council by the Colonial Secretary, that the request which my hon. friend put forward on the 23rd of October last, for the appointment of a committee of five
-
"No such written representation was made to the Principal Civil Medical Officer by the Sisters (they are not called Nurses): but under date of the 2nd of July last the Superintendent of the Government Civil Hospital addressed a letter to the Prin- cipal Civil Medical Officer setting forth on behalf of the Sisters reasons why they considered their number should be increased by two. The Superintendent recommended the increase. as did the Officer. The Medical Principal Civil Governor, after investigation, recognised that an increase in staff was necessary, but decided that it should take the form of two additional probationers. This decision the was communicated to the Head of
made Department, and provision was accordingly in the Estimates for the current year. In February of this year the Governor enquired whether the extra probationers had been engaged, and he was informed that it had not been found possible to engage them. In these circum- Stances the question of the reorganization of the staff of sisters and probationers was again taken up and is being considered at the present time. It is not considered that any useful purpose would be served by laying papers on this subject on the table."
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