Annual report : 1904 / St. Mary's Hospital.

  • St. Mary's Hospital (London, England)
Date:
1904
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report : 1904 / St. Mary's Hospital. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    26/224 (page 20)
    Enquiry.—The system of enquiry into the circumstances of Out-Patients, established in 1898, with the view of preventing abuse of the Charity by those able to pay for the treatment they require, has been continued throughout the year. Of 23,347 Out-Patients in the Medical, Surgical, and Special Departments, 1,368 were selected as calling for enquiry, and of that number investigation showed 103 only to be unsuitable, a number equal to ’44 per cent, of the total number of patients in all Departments. Late in the year the scope of the system of enquiry was extended by the inclusion of In-Patients. The new departure is too recent for statistics to be of any value. The efficiency of the Nursing Department has been well maintained during the year. It has been further strengthened by the addition of eight to the staff. The Medical School .—The increase in the entry of new students noted in last year’s report has been maintained,, and the Dean reports that the examination results at the Universities and Examining Boards have continued to be highly satisfactory. No important changes in the personnel of the several Science Departments have taken place during the year; the work of the Pathological Department has been further extended, and there has been a steady increase in the number of bacteriological and chemical examinations commensurate with the growing importance of such investigations in relation to the diagnosis and treatment of hospital patients. The Physiological Department under the direction of Dr. Alcock, the recently-appointed Lecturer, has undergone thorough re-organisation, and the Department of Physics instituted last year has proved a valuable acquisition, and has enabled trie Medical School to keep well abreast of the increased requirements of the Examining Boards in respect of the preliminary sciences.