Mr. J. Netten Radcliffe on the proposed site of a fever hospital at Maidstone.

  • John Netten Radcliffe
Date:
1871
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Mr. J. Netten Radcliffe on the proposed site of a fever hospital at Maidstone. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Mr. J. Netten Radcliffe on the proposed Site of a Fever Hospital at Maidstone. THE Board of Management of the West Kent General Hospital, situated at Maidstone contemplate the erection of a detached building for the reception of cases of Board10UDo,rf h Up°n 7 plot °f grc\und in rear * *be hospital, the property of the Board Doubts haying been expressed whether houses in the immediate neighbourhood tf ol.rff01’086*!, Slte ?'s^t noi be exP0Sed to the danger of infectious disease extending to them from the contiguity of such a building, and whether this would not be placedn inspection of° whicf A° Pb n tbor0Shfares- the Local Board of Health requested the ffl: ' , Whlch tbe are here given. If the Local Board is satisfied that no it nnrnni! t ^ appi?bended 111 these respects from the proposed position of the building it purposes to enter into an arrangement with the Board of Management of the General Hospital, for the reception of fever cases, at a charge to be defrayed by the Local B fl n fi 1 i * \n question, quadrangular in form, has public thoroughfares on west ide andTt thedeS ! i‘ “ TrI°°ked * ^‘'ing-hous^ on L east side audonthe J ^ at the south-east corner two blocks of building, each consisting 0f two hlnnl ° an 1some^iaJ’.d^aPi^ate(i cottages, encroach upon it. Between these two road which, at the present time, gives access to the plot. South of the plot stands the General Hospital; a small garden, and the two blocks of cottages referred Nnrt1}:Titmgl\etWeen the back 1)remises of the institution a^ the proposed site ^p o„ertveof the B°PeI? Tm7' The SpaCe °f ground in rear of the Hospital the property of the Board of Management, measures, from the back of the main hospital building to the northern limit, 450 feet; from side to side, at the point where it is Lrrfan1 two thhds ** buildkg’ ,95feet; and !t incIudes an area of about an , , Ti?,e, ProJected building, as at present designed, will contain two wards, each for four beds with a room for isolating a case if necessary, nurses’ rooms, kitchen, and offices I 7ml tbTh eu!n U\° S!,°neS’ a f0Ur'bed ward beinS P^ed in each storf. The Stance anXs* tohthlT/0^6 nearest mhabited house, the first of a row running at right ° the plot of ground at the north-east corner, would be 08 feet- to the nhf/nf pu ^ t l0r0|° ' are’ 78 i®et- 'the nearest houses on the east side of the plot of ground are about 125 feet distant from the site. The distances between the nmtTbut am “1 n* nearest, dwelling-houses and thoroughfares very closely approxi- mate hut are probab y somewhat in excess of those which exist between the London Fever Hospital and the houses and thoroughfare which adjoin it. The latter hoover is much more closely shut in by dwelling-houses. There is no evidence to show that* “I atiany tn“textended from the wards of the London Fever Hospital,* with its 320 beds, to contiguous houses or to persons passing along the great thoroughfare extending in front of it; and it is to be inferred that no danger of such extension would anse fiom meeting a building for eases of infectious maladies on the site proposed in rear of the West Kent General Hospital. 11 !nfcnf^eCeSra.1^ conddions> *0 preclude the dissemination of infection from cases of e •1°iUS+t L8ea?e (;°^ecte(l together, are (a) that there shall be proper means of conveying «hnllS1lCV °fc / ,wken neoossarj the convalescent from, the hospital; and, (b) that there G m/enT mean^ ^or the disinfection of clothing, bedding, and beds upon the premises. The Local Board is authorized (Sanitary Act, 1866, sections 23 and 24) to provide a carriage for the conveyance of infected persons, and proper means for disin- ec ion. ie approach to an infectious-disease hospital is also a question of moment in lespec o the danger of dissemination. The present roadway to the site under flip m-pTnf fw h(TPitaIs,f<)r [ever anc* small-pox, at King's Cross, were far more closely hemmed in bv houses than . .. j CVer 0SPlta‘» yet no extension ot disease from their wards to the neighbourhood is known ever to have occui rtjfl.