No. 100/1927:

THE COUNTY SCHEMES (OFFICERS OF DISTRICT HOSPITALS) ORDER, 1927.

THE COUNTY SCHEMES (OFFICERS OF DISTRICT HOSPITALS) ORDER, 1927.

DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH.

THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT (TEMPORARY PROVISIONS) ACT, 1923 .

WHEREAS by the County Boards of Health (General Regulations) Order, 1924, the Minister for Local Government did make and prescribe certain rules and regulations with respect to, amongst other things, the appointment and duties of officers to be appointed by and the government and management of certain institutions provided and maintained by the bodies (hereinafter referred to as "the boards of assistance") to whom are entrusted the administration of the relief of the poor in any county or part of a county under the several county schemes or joint county schemes confirmed or amended by or in pursuance of the Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923 :

AND WHEREAS certain of the boards of assistance provide and maintain under the said county schemes certain institutions known as district or cottage hospitals and it is expedient to make and prescribe the rules and regulations hereinafter appearing with respect to the appointment and duties of the officers to be appointed by such boards of assistance for such district or cottage hospitals:

NOW THEREFORE I, the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, in exercise of the powers vested in me by the Poor Relief (Ireland) Acts, 1838 to 1914, the Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923 , and of every county and joint county scheme confirmed or amended by or in pursuance of the said last mentioned Act, and of all other powers in this behalf enabling me, do by this my Order make the following rules and regulations:—

1.—This Order may be cited as the County Schemes (Officers of District Hospitals) Order, 1927, and shall be read and construed as one with the County Boards of Health (General Regulations) Order, 1924.

2.—In this Order:—

(i) the expression "the Minister" means the Minister for Local Government and Public Health;

(ii) the expression "General Regulations" means the County Boards of Health (General Regulations) Order, 1924;

(iii) the expression "board of assistance" means the body to whom is entrusted the administration of the relief of the poor in any county or part of a county under a county or joint county scheme;

(iv) the expression "district hospital" means a hospital other than a central or county hospital provided and maintained by a board of assistance;

(v) other expressions have the same meaning as in the General Regulations.

APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS OF A DISTRICT HOSPITAL.

3.—(i) In addition to the officers which a board of assistance is required to appoint by Article 24 of the General Regulations, a board of assistance shall as soon as may be requisite and from time to time upon the occurrence of any vacancy appoint fit persons to perform respectively, in relation to a district hospital, the duties of the following officers:—

(a) medical officer of the district hospital;

(b) head nurse of the district hospital.

(ii) Paragraphs (c) and (d) of Article 24 of the General Regulations shall apply to the appointment of nurses, wardsmaids and attendants for a district hospital in like manner as those paragraphs apply to the appointment of such officers for the county home and county hospital, and references in the said paragraphs to the matron and the medical officer shall respectively be construed as references to the head nurse of a district hospital and the medical officer of a district hospital.

4.—Every appointment of a person by a board of assistance to an office under this Order which is not an office to which the Local Authorities (Officers and Employees) Act, 1926 , applies shall be subject to the approval of the Minister,

5.—Every appointment of a person by a board of assistance to an office under this Order which is an office to which the Local Authorities (Officers and Employees) Act, 1926 , applies whether the approval of the Minister is or is not required thereto under the said Act shall as soon as the same shall have been made, be reported to the Minister by the secretary of the board of assistance.

QUALIFICATIONS OF OFFICERS OF A DISTRICT HOSPITAL.

6.—Every medical officer of a district hospital shall be a duly registered medical practitioner.

7.—Every head nurse of a district hospital hereafter to be appointed shall be a trained nurse and shall have attained the age of thirty years at the least.

8.—Every nurse hereafter to be appointed for a district hospital shall be a qualified nurse.

DUTIES OF THE OFFICERS OF A DISTRICT HOSPITAL.

9.—The duties of a medical officer of a district hospital shall be as follows:—

(1) To attend at the district hospital daily and not later than ten o'clock in the morning, and also when sent for by the head nurse or other responsible officer of the district hospital, in cases of sudden illness, accident, or other emergency, and at all such other times as the state of the patients may render necessary.

(2) To examine all patients on their admission into the district hospital, and to decide whether the cases are suitable for treatment therein.

(3) To give all necessary directions as to diet and classification and treatment of the patients in the district hospital.

(4) To consult with the medical officer and surgeon of the county hospital in regard to any patient in the district hospital in any case in which the state of the patient shall render such consultation necessary.

(5) To enter in the book or books provided for that purpose all directions which he or she may give regarding the diet of patients, and to cause the same to be submitted to the board of assistance at their ordinary meetings.

(6) To report in writing to the board of assistance any defect in the diet, drainage, ventilation, warmth, or other arrangements of the district hospital.

(7) To keep all books which he or she may be required to keep by any order or direction of the Minister.

(8) To give to the board of assistance when required any reasonable information respecting the case of any patient who has been under his or her care, and to attend the meetings of the board of assistance when requested by them to do so.

10.—The head nurse of a district hospital shall perform in relation to a district hospital the like duties as are required to be performed by the matron of a county hospital under Article 57 of the General Regulations, and references in the said article to the medical officer shall be construed as references to the medical officer of the district hospital.

11.—The nurses in a district hospital shall perform in relation to a district hospital the like duties as are required to be performed by the nurses of a county hospital under Article 55 of the General Regulations and references therein to the medical officer and the matron shall respectively be construed as references to the medical officer of the district hospital and the head nurse of the district hospital.

12.—The provisions of the foregoing articles shall as the case may require and in so far as the same are applicable apply to any person who at the date of this Order is an officer of a district hospital and is performing duties analogous to those of a medical officer of a district hospital, head nurse of a district hospital, or nurse in a district hospital in like manner as if such person had been appointed under this Order.

Given under My Official Seal, this Sixth day of

December in the year of Our Lord One

Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty-seven.

(Signed) RISTEÁRD UA MAOLCHATHA,

Minister for Local Government and

Public Health.