A letter to Lord Aberdare, chairman of the Managing Committee of the Hospital for Sick Children / by Charles West.

  • West, Charles, 1816-1898.
Date:
1887
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter to Lord Aberdare, chairman of the Managing Committee of the Hospital for Sick Children / by Charles West. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    Questions. 1. What is the number, sex, and age of all patients received into the hospital annually ? 2. What is the limit of age, above and below which patients are not admitted ? 3. If children under two years old are admitted, are there any restrictions on their admission ? 4. If they are admitted, are they placed in a separate ward, or are they distributed through the general wards ? 5. What is the mortality under two, and what at other ages ? 6. Is Hooping Cough generally admitted ? If so, is there a Hooping Cough ward, and what are the limitations of admis- sion, and what is the mortality at different ages, of Hooping Cough cases ? 7. Is there a special ward for Diphtheria cases, or are they distributed through the general wards, or is each case as far as possible isolated from all other cases of Diphtheria, as well as of other diseases ? 8. Is there an accident ward; or are accidents, as fractures, burns, &c, admitted generally on application, or are they sent to the general hospital of the town ? 9. What provision is made for the reception of cases of Scarlatina and Measles and their sequels ? Are there separate wards for them ? 10. To what extent has their admission led to the spread of those diseases among the other patients in the hospital ? It is proposed to open a Special Ward for Children under two years of age, the great reason assigned being that it is certain that multitudes of infants suffering from simple atrophy have to be refused admission, and are of necessity inadequately treated as Out-Patients, who, if taken in for a time, could be saved. This proposal was sure at once to enlist the sympathy of every mother. It may be doubted, however, whether either mothers or governors are prepared to acquiesce in a mortality of 41.5 per cent., which is the outcome of the returns furnished by 26 hospitals, that have given details sufficient to admit of being tabulated ;