Annual report of the Board of Management : 1942.

  • Royal National Hospital for Consumption and Diseases of the Chest
Date:
1942
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Board of Management : 1942. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    under the Emergency Medical Scheme, and how on the 1st September, 1939, instructions were received to clear these beds and that this was accomplished within four hours. It took several months of hard work and re-organisation to get the Hospital into working order again once the decision had been made to abandon the separate principle of treating each patient in a separate room by doubling the bed capacity of each room, and by taking over the administration of two open-air Holiday Camps on the Island for convalescent patients. “During the second half of 1940 our Honorary Auditor advised that it was found impossible to visit the Hospital in order to audit the Accounts for 1939. He suggested that the books should be sent to his office at Wimbledon, but it was not considered desirable to take this step under the conditions then prevailing. The Honorary Auditor was there¬ fore asked to visit the Hospital, if possible, in February of 1941, so as to then audit the Accounts for both 1939 and 1940. We all appreciate, I am sure, that our Honorary Auditor has suffered in his business no less than many of us by shortage of staff due to the calls made by His Majesty's Armed Forces, and we are deeply grateful for the valuable honorary services he has rendered us. Several attempts were made during 1941 to arrange for our Honorary Auditor to have the Hospital’s books in order to complete the audit but in this the Board and our Honorary Auditor were frustrated by the procrastination of our then Acting Secretary. This officer had served the Hospital for twelve years and it eventually became necessary for the Board to order him to return to London in February, 1942, with all the books and to submit them forthwith for audit. This, however, was not completed until July, 1942. Certain irregularities on the part of the Acting Secretary were discovered and his services with the Hospital were terminated. There followed protracted investigations by the Director of Public Prosecutions, in whose hands the Board of Management had placed the matter. Meanwhile, it was quite obviously impossible for our Honorary Auditor to certify our Accounts until completion of the investigations. “ It is extremely satisfactory to note that after the first impact of war conditions the Hospital has been able to increase the total daily average of patients treated. On the financial side the Accounts show that for the four years under review there has been a total excess of Expenditure over Income amounting to almost £15,000. You will observe, however, that there is in Suspense Account the sum of £33,902 16s. Od. This amount was received from the Ministry of Health by way of interim payments on account of the Emergency Medical Scheme. The Hospital’s actual claim against the Government on account of the Emergency Medical Scheme from the 1st September, 1939, to the 31st December, 1942, amounts to £24,055 7s. 4d, plus a further sum of £2,222 18s. 2d. on account of expenses incurred in connection with the Holiday Camps. When this claim is finally settled with the Ministry of Health and these figures brought into our Accounts we shall have a favour¬ able balance of Income over Expenditure for which we have looked, in view of the steadily increasing numbers of patients we have treated, and the increased maintenance fees which have been charged since 1939.
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