VPRS 19335 House Committee Minutes

This record series consists of the Minutes of the House Committee of Melbourne Homoeopathic Hospital/Prince Henry's Hospital. The House Committee was an integral committee of the Hospital for much of the Hospital's existence. The House Committee administered the day-to-day working of the Hospital and reported to the Board; it visited and inspected the house (in the early years), reported its state, saw to it that necessary repairs were carried out, checked stocks, and controlled the purchasing of all supplies and equipment. The earliest minutes covered mainly Hospital accounts, the Matron's Report, tenders, contracts and requisitions. Later, the House Committee concerned itself more with matters relating to management of the physical aspects of the Hospital. Those matters included the establishment of a kiosk; nurses' quarters; a garage for motor cars; alterations to the kitchen; painting of the Hospital; the unloading of coal; and electronic paging. The Committee addressed many other aspects of the Hospital including staffing; inquests into deaths at the Hospital; patient meals; the hiring of television sets for patients; patient injuries; car parking; and fire control plans. The House Committee was established at the meeting of the General Committee held on 16 July 1879. It is not known when the Committee commenced recording official Minutes. The minutes from the General Committee for the period from July 1879 to January 1882 refer only to Reports received from the House Committee. The House Committee met monthly. The earliest minutes extant are the minutes for the meeting held on 14 June 1926. The minutes were handwritten until the meeting of 8 August 1932 when minutes began to be typed. Subjects discussed and recorded were set out in the left hand margin of each page. The last meeting of the House Committee was held on 17 September 1973. It was to be superseded by the Executive Committee. A restructure of the Hospital's administration commenced from 1 October 1973. As from that date there would be an Executive Committee, composed of Board members and senior administrative officers, which would, within a policy framework laid down by the Board, be responsible for the efficient day to day management and functioning of the Hospital. The Executive Committee was to meet at two-weekly intervals. The full Board would meet quarterly to receive and consider reports from its Executive Committee. The House, Finance and Building Committees were to be absorbed by the Executive Committee.