Report of the Committee appointed May 17, 1866, to consider and report upon the proposed erection of fever wards.

  • John Radcliffe Hospital.
Date:
[1866?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Committee appointed May 17, 1866, to consider and report upon the proposed erection of fever wards. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    attached to their availing themselves of the charities of the Radcliffe Infirmary. Indeed, as no Establish- ment of the kind which we propose has as yet had an existence in Oxford, no experience or positive knowledge of what the behaviour of the Poor will be towards it can be said to exist here. The readiness, however, with which the Poor in other places avail themselves of such Free Wards, and the positive testimonies of persons who are well acquainted with the wants and feelings of our own population, leave no doubt upon our minds as to the futility of the objection we are here dealing with. Under our present system of Admis- sion of Fever Cases by letter, the difficulty which the friends of the poor man taken with Fever have, is not to induce him or his relatives to allow of his i-emoval to the Radcliffe, but to obtain for him the requisite letter of recommendation. This difficulty is often great; has often, in cases which have been brought to our knowledge, prevented the removal alto- gether; and the smallness of the number of Fever Cases, which your annually published Reports show to have procured admission within your walls, is to be explained by the existence of this difficulty, and not upon the hypothesis of the unwilling- ness of the Poor to enter the Infirmary. We have, however, positive testimony from Mr. Godfrey and Mr. Mallam, two of the medical practitioners in this city, who are, in virtue of their public appointments, brought into most extensive relation with the poor, to the effect that no such unwillingness does exist with regard to entering the Radcliffe, as at present constituted, or would exist with regard to any addition, such as the Fever Wards, which might be made to it. Mr. Godfrey writes thus, “ I have sent many cases of fever to the Infirmary for many years. I always found them very pleased to go, and in the case of children the parents very anxious to have them sent. The benefits derived in all cases have been very great.” Mr. Mallam, in a letter, which we shall have occasion to quote again, says, “ I have been, by virtue of my office,