The letters of Mr. Alexander Fiddes, F.R.C.S., Edin. considered and refuted, his misrepresentations exposed, his calumnies and innuendoes set in the light of truth, his various statements in the press and otherwise weighed in the balance and found wanting / by Lewis Quier Bowerbank ; together with documentary letters and papers, tending to expose a professional conspiracy, and to afford the public in the colonies, and in Great Britain, correct judgment as to the controversy now existing on hospital matters.

  • Bowerbank, Lewis Q.
Date:
1865
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The letters of Mr. Alexander Fiddes, F.R.C.S., Edin. considered and refuted, his misrepresentations exposed, his calumnies and innuendoes set in the light of truth, his various statements in the press and otherwise weighed in the balance and found wanting / by Lewis Quier Bowerbank ; together with documentary letters and papers, tending to expose a professional conspiracy, and to afford the public in the colonies, and in Great Britain, correct judgment as to the controversy now existing on hospital matters. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    In lollo\vinj,r this plart, considerable time has been consumed ; ]>ut llio boiird will not rei,n'et this, if, as they hope, it shall nppear, that the labor of their protracted sitting-s has not been expended in vain. The bojird have come to the determination, that their present report should be strictly limited to the charges contained in M'llae's coniplaiut and to such suggestions, with respect to the economy and management of the hospital, as have occurred to them durin'g the course of the enquiry; and they have purposely abstainedYroni offering any opinion or remarks on the questions raised by the ordi- iiiiry medical officers, in their letter addressed to the board, as also in several other documents which were handed in and received at sub- sequent stages of the enquiry ; they are of opinion, however, that the duties of visitors, with respect to receiving and investigating complaints from patients and other persons afi\3cting the hospital, .should be, as soon as possible defined and promulgated, and they are prepared to make a si)ecial report on this subject, if required to do so by his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor. - M'llae's complaint may be divided into two classes, viz. : charges of neglect and misconduct against Dr. Stern, the senior re- sident medical officer, and charges affecting the internal economy of the hospital and its subordinate officers, such as the improper issuing and conditioji of stores, diet, clothing, &c. In reference to the former portion of the complaint embracing the charges, numbered respectively from one to six, it will be seen hy the minutes of their last sitting, that the board have considered nnd decided each charge seriatim, in connection with the evidence relating to each case, and after having examined all the patients re- ferred to in the complaint. After a very attentive consideration of these several charges; the board are of opinion, that each and all of them are unfounded nnd unproved; the evidence adduced being, in the opinion of the board, insufficient to substantiate any one of the grounds of com- plaint as regards Dr. Stern. On thecontrary ; it appears that al- most all the patients, on whose behalf M'Rae has assumed to com- jilaiu, have denied that they authorized him to do so, and declared tliemselves satisfied with their treatment in the hospital. The board therefore cannot refrain from designating the conduct of M'Eae, in advancing these charges as vexatious, if not malicious, towards Dr. Stern ; and they teel it necessary to condemn the seri- ous impropriety of which he was guilty, in collecting his fellow- patients in the wards of the hospital, and instigating them to make unfounded or exaggerated complaints, with the evident design of giving color to his own accusations. Such conduct was highly ir- reguhir, and subversive of all order and discipline in the hospital; and the board wonld recommend, that while every proper facility should be afforded to inmates of the hospital to complain of their own grievances, no patient should be permitted to constitute him- self the medium of hearing and making complaints, on behalf of other patients, in which he has no personal concern. With reference to the evidence connected with the char^-e No. 6, from wliich it appears to have been the practice hitherto lor iho