Volume 1
The Imperial Yeomanry Hospitals in South Africa, 1900-1902 / edited by the Countess Howe.
- Imperial Yeomanry Hospitals Committee.
- Date:
- 1902
Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Credit: The Imperial Yeomanry Hospitals in South Africa, 1900-1902 / edited by the Countess Howe. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
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![APPENDIX Iv (SURGEON-MAJOR KILKELLY’S REPORT). ACCOUNTING FOR RATIONS AND DIETS, OFFICERS’ MESS, DIET RULES, &c. K. —Notes on Rations and Diets. K ]. -Abstract of Diets and Extras (for Stewards). K 2. Diet Table, Officers. K 3.— ,, ,, N.C.O’s and Men. Iv 4.—Diet Sheet (for Medical Officer). K 5.—Diet Summary (for Sister). K 6.—Scale of Rations, <fcc., for Officers PROCEEDING TO CAPE TOWN BYt RAIL. K 7.—Officers’ Mess Time Table. Iv 8.— ,, ,, Wine List. K 9.\ Green and Yellow Chits for Issue of K 10. J Wines, &c. (K) RATIONS AND DIETS. The system of obtaining Rations for healthy troops and Diets for the sick in hospital was as follows :— Rations.—Every officer and man on duty had drawn for him from the Army Service Corps a Ration according to a scale, consisting of I j pounds of meat, 1 pounds of bread, and certain groceries, tea, jam, &c. If these were not obtainable at the time, owing to the exigencies of the service, substitutes were issued (such as biscuits for bread, &c.). Patients in ‘field hospitals’ and small ‘ non-dieted hospitals,’where a proper diet could not be arranged, had as much of these rations as was suitable for them. The meat was usually minced or made into a soup, and any article obtainable in the locality, such as milk, eggs, chicken, given in addition. Diets.—In general hospitals it is the endeavour of every medical officer to establish a system of Dietary. In the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital at Pretoria and Elandsfontein, special diet tables, one for officers and the other for N.C.O.’s and men, were constructed (vide K 2 and K 3). Every patient admitted to hospital was ordered one of the diets from these tables by his medical officer on the patients’ ‘ diet sheet- ’ (Appendix Iv 4). If the diet ordered did not exactly suit the case, the medical officer ordered certain ‘ extras ’ in addition. These diets were, however, so carefully constructed that the ordering of ‘ extras ’ was reduced to a minimum. If the medical officer did not consider it necessary to change his patients’ ‘diets’and ‘extras’ every day, it was not necessary for him to make any further entries on the diet sheet (see sample diet sheet in Appendix Iv 4). After the medical officer’s visit in the morning the Sister of the ward made out a ‘ Summary of Diets and Extras ’ on the Summary of Diets and Extras sheets (Appendix K 5), signed it, and sent it by her ward orderly to the steward of the hospital. The steward, acting under the quartermaster, made an ‘ Abstract of Diets and Extras ’ in duplicate from all the summaries of the hospital (Appendix K 1), and then obtained the articles in bulk from the Army Service Corps by requisition. A certain stock of the non-perishable articles were kept in the Hospital Provision Store, but the perishable articles were obtained daily. The steward issues to the cook all articles of diets and extras that require cooking, together with a duplicate copy of the ‘ Abstract of Diets and Extras,’ and the remaining articles are issued to the sisters of wards through the ward orderlies. At meal-times the ward orderlies attend the cook-house, and bring the cooked food to the wards. The steward also keeps a ‘Diet Account of Provisions’ (Army Form, F 735), in which everything ‘received and issued and remaining ’ for the month is entered daily, and balanced at the end of the month. For those officers who were able to attend mess a ‘ full' diet was drawn, and handed to the mess cook of the officers’ mess as their contribution to the mess. They could then partake of anything on the menu. It will be observed that the medical officer had merely to order the diet in the simplest possible way. The rest of the work of accounting for, obtaining, issuing the diet to the patient, so essential to prevent fraud and ensure the patient getting the proper amount of food, is carried out by the Sister Steward and orderlies and cooks.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28038265_0001_0193.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
