The workhouse and its medical officer / by Alfred Sheen.

  • Sheen, Alfred.
Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The workhouse and its medical officer / by Alfred Sheen. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    cases should be sent to the local infirmary, if there is one, because there all the necessary nursing and appliances are more likely to be available. In work- houses with an efficient nursing staff, and adequate assistance such as would be provided by one or more House Surgeons, there is no reason why any operation should not be performed, and there are many examples throughout the country of the valuable services rendered by. Medical Officers in this direction. POST MORTEM EXAMINATIONS. In the case of the death of an inmate, the Medical Officer is required only to state in the Medical Belief Book the apparent cause of death, and, according to Glen, in no case do the Commissioners desire a post mortem examination to take place solely for the pur- pose of satisfying this rule. In 1875 the Local Government Board stated that “as a general rule post mortems ought onty to take place in workhouses for the purpose of discovering the cause of death when it cannot otherwise be ascertained.” My own practice is to make a post mortem in cases where I think it necessary to do so, but never without the consent of friends or relatives where such exist. This is the usual practice in general hospitals, and should apply in all workhouse hospitals.