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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 1977, WHITBY FREE PRESS whitby s Voice of the Cou nty Town Mike The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and opera ERVING OVER 28,000 READERS C r Published every Wednesdayc P F by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography Inc. c Phone 668-611I C The Free Press Building, e Burgess, Publisher-Managing Editor 121 Brock Street North, P.O. Box.206. Whitby, Ont. ~ommunity Editor -Brian Witter Comm.unity Editor ontributing Editor Production Manager rint &Promotional Manager lassified Ad Manager irculation Manager -Brian Winter -Jim Quail -Marje Burgess -Robin Lyon, -Marlene Byrom -Sharon Lyon Mailing Permit No. 460 Member of the: Better Business Bureau of Toronto Whitby Chamber o merce Give them a brake! Summer is fast ,approaching and with summer, come children on bicycles. • Bicycles can be a lot of fun but they also can be a danger to their riders and motorists too, if not handled properly. For the second conse- cutive year the Whitby Optimist Club is bringing this matter to the atten- tion of town residents with its Bike Safety Week, and bicycle rodeo at Iroquois Park. Bike Safety Week is May 23 to 29, ending with the bike rodeo starting at 9 a.m. May 29 for children aged five to 14. This rodeo includes complete and thorough safety checks, safety quizzes, and performances on an obstacle course. The slogan for Bike Safety Week is "Give Thern a Brake". We hope that everyone will remember this slogan and the need to use care and caution when riding a bicycle. The Optimist Club is to be congratulated for its efforts to make children and adults more aware of bicycle safety. in this way our service clubs fulfil their purpose in our community. Ontario Hospital Association says: Nurses'union is making Dear Sir: Hospitals in many parts >f the province are pre- sently being made the scapegoats of an orches- trated attempt by the nurses' union (ONA) to discredit health care services. The union's orginal brief contained some reasonable recom- mendations to improve health services, particular- ly in theareas of public health and preventive health care. Recent attacks by local union officers upon their own hospitals for the purpose of publicity, are quite another matter. Are these ONA represen- tatives really speaking for the many thousands of professional nurses work- ing in our hospitals? There are some impor- tant points the public should bear in mind: 1. The ONA is neither a professional association nor a standard setting body. It is a certified trade union, with bargain- ing rights for RN's in some 126 hospitals in the province. The pro- fessional organization of nurses in this province is the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO). The standard- setting body is the College of Nurses in Ontario. 2. The union is at this very time engaged in a crucial contract arbitra- tion that , could affect hospitals proýince-wide. 3. A key issue in that arbitration is the union's effort to obtain greater control over workload, and therefore over the number of RN's that hospitals must employ. 4. Despite budget con- straints, and the fact that Ontario's RNs are among the highest-paid in the world, the most recent hospital statistics show no significant reduction in the ratio of overall nursing services to patients in 1976. Most of the allegations of "mismanagement" and "waste" made by the nurses' union actually tell a quite different story of the efforts of hospitals and the people workng in them, to adapt to the demands of their linited facilities. f there are any "horror" stories, I find them in a surprising lack of compassion shown by somle of the nurses quoted for people who look to their hospitals for help. There is no question that pressures upon active-treatment hospitals and staff would be eased by creation of more alter- native services, particular- ly for long-term geriatric and home care patients. A word of warning, however. The public must not be misled to expect dramatic financial eco- nomies from such moves. The difference in average daily costs bears no relation to the money that might be saved by moving patients from acute-care to long-term hospitals. In fact, there is really no evidence that nursing a chronically-ill patient in an active- treatment hospital is more expensive than anywhere else. The important ,scapegoats consideration here is not hospital, mythical dollar savings nal chan but the problem of plac- just as ing patients in the settings workplac best suited to their needs The for treatment and rehabil- public itation. That's a tremen- employee dous challenge to any fidence in health care system in a determin constantly changing boardsi environment. Some significant efforts to improve long-term care arrangements have been prornised by the government. Meanwhile, our public general hospi- tals remain on the front- line, coping with the needs of sick and ailing people. That's their job. e At one point, the Minister of Health was quoted as saying that hospital employees may corne to him anony- n mously with complaints. Our association is glad to have received his assur- ance since, that he agrees with us that this would be B both regrettable and un- B necessary. If any hospital - employee has sincere concerns about conditions in his or her of hospitals there are inter- to continue man nels available their own opera in any other fairly and in the e. interest of the pat Minister, the they serve. and hospital Yours sincerely, es can have con- n the ability and ation of hospital and executives J. W. Ostler President Ontario Hospital Association i AKDW1WO)EO ?X't GO 7AY//hB6GJ W'O)FI'AVV A/F) C ot-? aging tions best lients Mosul m«mmý tted by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. Ir 1IE