Supervision of Hospitals

The public hospitals are completely financed from Government sources, and the Department is responsible, under the Minister of Health, for seeing that the hospitals are adequate in number and efficient in operation. While the detailed administration of hospitals is the responsibility of individual hospital boards, new hospital buildings, or extensions of existing buildings, come within the purview of the Department which must consider the need for the building in question and the overall requirements of the country, and keep expansion within the available resources of finance and the building industry. In this connection a large measure of responsibility rests with the Hospital Works Committee, a statutory committee consisting of the Director-General of Health, a Public Works engineer, and a Treasury officer. The Department maintains an Architectural Section and undertakes both detailed planning for the smaller hospital boards, and examination and modification or approval of plans prepared by private architects for the larger boards.

Another important function of the Department is that of providing inspection and advisory services for hospitals. This keeps the Department fully informed as to the developmental needs of hospitals throughout the country, and provides knowledge as to the quality of the treatment given by hospital staffs. Regular inspections are also carried out by nurse inspectors concerning the proper functioning of nursing services, including the training of student nurses, while an inspecting dietitian and an inspecting physiotherapist give advice within the scope of their particular specialties. Finally, the administration of the hospitals is assisted by the visits of advisory officers and advising house managers.

Private Hospitals are required to be licensed by the Department, and are under regular inspection to ensure that they are adequately staffed and equipped, and properly conducted.