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H.—3la,

Weber. During the same period the population of the Town of Dannevirke increased by 2-91 per cent., while that of Woodville decreased by 5-33 per cent. Norsewood and Ormondville in the north are settlements largely inhabited by the descendants of Scandinavian immigrants. Dairy-farming is the main industry of the district. The towns of Woodville, Dannevirke, and Ormondville are connected by the railway, and road communications throughout the district are good. Dannevirke. Public-hospital Facilities. —A public maternity annexe is under construction at the general hospital. It is the expressed wish of the local medical practitioners that this annexe should be open to all doctors practising in the town, and the Committee concurs in this suggestion. At present the Hospital Board pays a fee of £6 6s. for two weeks to the private hospitals for indigent patients. Private-hospital Facilities. —There are two private hospitals of seven and four beds respectively, both of which belong to doctors, the licensees paying a monthly rental. Fees are from £4 15s. to £6 6s. per week. Equipment and accommodation are adequate. Sedatives are generally used. Intermediate Facilities. —These are non-existent. Woodville. No public facilities exist here, the needs of the district being adequately served by a three-bed private hospital, which is seldom overcrowded. The fees are £9 9s. for two weeks. No special arrangement exists for indigent patients. Formerly the Dannevirke Hospital Board paid £3 3s. per week for such cases, this fee being later reduced to £3 for a fortnight. Subsequently cases occurred for which no payment was made, but no claims have been made for the past eighteen months owing to the improved economic conditions. The hospital would not be a paying proposition were it not for the fact that it is the private residence of the licensee's parents, and that the produce from a farm helps to pay expenses. Maori Conditions.—The Maori population of the district is 854. The district nurse does all ante-natal work among the Maoris, but does not possess a sphygmomanometer. She feels that the Maoris are gradually becoming educated to the necessity for this work. Most cases are confined in Maori fashion in the pas, a few going to hospital at Waipawa. In the event of medical assistance being required in apa this is paid for by the Health Department on the nurse's recommendation. The nurse herself does very few deliveries, and considers that the erection of a public maternity annexe at Dannevirke will be a great incentive to Maoris to seek hospital treatment. Recommendations. (1) The Committee feels that certain of the present problems of the district will be solved by the opening of the maternity annexe, and recommends that this be run on a community basis. (2) The Committee considers that the Hospital Board should enter into a definite arrangement with the private hospital at Woodville for the medical and nursing care of indigent cases. 24. WAIRARAPA HOSPITAL BOARD DISTRICT. The district extends from the south coast to a line running just north of Pahiatua, from the boundary of the Palmerston North Board to the east coast, and is bounded on the west by the Rimutaka and Tararua Ranges. It includes the counties of Featherston, Wairarapa South, Castlepoint, Masterton, Mauriceville, Eketahuna, Pahiatua, and Akitio, and carries a total population of 17,863 males and 16,527 females, principally Europeans. The main town is Masterton with a population of 9,492, other centres are Carterton (2,543), Pahiatua (1,985), Featherston (1,740), Greytown (1,704), Martinborough (1,030), Eketahuna (806), and Pongaroa (422). The total population of the district is 34,390, with practically no variation during the period 1926-36. There are no public maternity facilities other than those at the Masterton Hospital. Mastekton. Attached to the public hospital is a maternity annexe containing twelve beds, which is under the control of the Matron of the general hospital. There is no resident Medical Superintendent, one of the local doctors, of which there are seven, acting in that capacity. The hospital is an " open " one, each doctor attending his own patients. The balance of the patients are delivered by the midwives attached to the staff, who call in either the resident surgeon or honorary surgeon to abnormal cases. Anesthetics and analgesics are used to the usual degree. It is a training school for maternity nurses. There is an ante-natal clinic, conducted at the hospital by the Sister in charge, which gives some attention to patients booked to enter the annexe, but most of the

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