Contributions submitted to the committee appointed for procuring information for extending the plan and improving the general economy of the Chester General Infirmary / by a member of the Committee.

Date:
1825
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Contributions submitted to the committee appointed for procuring information for extending the plan and improving the general economy of the Chester General Infirmary / by a member of the Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    occupy the room of numbers who might be relieved in the same time. Yet, unless received into some Asylum, sucli unhappy patients would fall victims to their diseases, or drag out a miserable existence, burthensome to themselves and shocking to humanity. “ It is not the least of the advantages which this institution will afford, that Divine Service will be regularly peiformed by the Chaplain attached to the establishment; through whose ministry its inmates will have an opportunity of attending the duties, and of receiv- ing the consolations of religion.” On the frequency of Herniary Complaints.—Extracted from an “ Account of the New Rupture Society.” <s It has been estimated that at least one person in fifteen is ruptured; but, among those classes of the community which arc much exposed to laborious employment, the average may lie fixed at one in eight or nine. This complaint is not confined to any particular age or sex, nor is it the consequence of depraved habits or immoral behaviour; but it arises either from a natural bodily defect, or from very unusual exertions at any period of life ; and can he neither foreseen nor avoided by the wealthy or by the poor. Its tendency is so alarming that, without timely aid, it generally terminates by a painful and rapid dissolution in early life, or during the vigour of manhood ; although, in a majority of cases, its fatal consequences may almost certainly be prevented by the careful application of an appropriate Truss or Compress.* “ Among the afflicted poor, where no means of relief have been resorted to, during the existence of ruptures and prolapses, the unhappy objects are commonly disabled from fulfilling the ordinary duties of their stations; insomuch, that in the army and navy it is an invariable rule to dismiss from the service those men who become ruptured by the violence of their exertions, llow lamentable a fact is it. that many thousands of individuals, perhaps during the period of full health and activity, should drag on a most useless and miserable life, for want of either the means or the knowledge requisite to obtain relief, when that knowledge aud those means can so easily be provid- ed by their affluent neighbours! The great importance therefore of relieving the industrious but afflicted poor, labouring uuder herniary complaints, must be sufficiently obvious to every reflecting mind.” On Friendly Societies.—By Dr.. Clark. “ The Workmen in the Manufactory at Etruria have subscribed, in the hook appointed for the district, £Z0 towards build-' ing the Medical Dispensary and House oj Recovery, and also the sum of Sixteen Guineas for the support thereof, to be paid every year ; which last money they will raise by the very moderate contribution of one half-penny per week for each person, and pay it into the hands of their employers at fixed periods. “ They will be entitled thereby to recommend eighteen patients every year to the House pj Recovery, and to have besides eighteen patients constantly on the hooks of the Dispensary ; and supposing that these eighteen should be changed once in every month, they will have it in their power to procure relief, in good advice and medicines, for two hundred and sixteen persons within the year.— Other sums would be entitled to proportional advantages.” On the Regulations of Military Hospitals.—Extracted from a Pamphlet published by Authority. “ The Surgeon is responsible for the proper classification of diseases, in their respective wards, which, under due arrange- ment, may at all times be expected from the commencement of the establishment of Regimental Hospitals; and the rule of placing similar diseases in contiguous beds, should be strictly adhered to. “ Every patient, on his admission to the Hospital, is expected to have in his possession two shirts, one waistcoat, and two pairs of stockings. Hospital dresses, consisting of the following articles, are provided under the authority of the Director-General, viz. for each patient a cotton or flannel gown, ditto trowsers, ditto night-cap, and a pair of list slippers. “ The wards are to be ventilated according to the state of the weather and the diseases of the patients, the Surgeon being responsible for the due performance of this duty, as injudicious ventilation is hurtful to the sick. “ The custom of washing floors, and covering them with sand or saw dust, is positively forbidden; dry-rubbing is to be sub- stituted, by means of the scrubbing-brush mounted on the heavy block. In cases where the state of the floor renders washing absolutely necessary, for the removal of filth, it is to be done under the special direction of the Medical Officer. “ Every patient is to be provided with a clean shirt, and (if he can sit up) with a clean pair of stockings, twice a-week, or oftener if necesssary ; and with clean palliasse cases once a month, and clean sheets once a fortnight, or oftener as particular cases may require. The patients are to be shaved at least thrice a week, and every possible attention paid to personal cleanliness.” . * As many persons do not know that Females aie liable to this heavy affliction, a comparative statement has been given by Mr. Blair, shewing the proportion to be nearly as one in six. Printed by T. Griffith, Bridge-Street, Chester.
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