The mortality of hospitals, general and special, in the United Kingdom, in times past and present.

  • Steele, J. C.
Date:
1877
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The mortality of hospitals, general and special, in the United Kingdom, in times past and present. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    From the Jotrnal of the Statistical Socibti. June, 1877. ■ _ — The Mortality of Hospitals, General and Special, in the United Kingdom, in Times Past and Present.* Early History of English Hospitals 1 Causes of the Earlier Mortality .... 8 Howai'd's Sanitary Observations.... 11 Early Mortality in Guy's Hospital 12 Increased Hospital Mortality in the Present Century 21 Causes of Variable Mortality in Hospitals of the .same Class 29 Early and Late Mortality in Sur- gical Operations 32 Alterations in the Mortality from different Diseases 36 contents: PAGE Early and Late Mortality in Lying-in Hospitals 42 Diseases Influencing the Health of Hospitals 46 Influence of Medical Schools on Hospital Mortality 52 Concluding Sanitary Observations.. 51 Appendix. Tables I to XVIII 65 In selecting the subject of the mortality of hospitals during past and present times, for the Howard Prize Essay of 1876, the Council of the Statistical Society were probably influenced by the fact of erroneous conclusions having been too often drawn from com- parisons made betwixt the results of medical treatment in various hospitals at different periods of their history, and which in the majority of instances may be traced to inaccurate and insuffi- cient data employed as a basis of comparison. From the small 'amount of information we are able to gather with respect to the practice of our forefathers, it is clear that during the past and greater part of the present century, variations in hospital mortality, or, indeed, pathological statistics of any kind relating to hospitals, were not looked upon in the light we should be disposed to regard them. At the same time, it must not be overlooked that in reason- ing from the death-rate alone, we are far from solving the problem involving the health of hospitals and the efficacy of medical treat- ment. Estimates drawn from mere mortality returns cannot be otherwise than misleading, unless they are accompanied witli the * Dr. Steele has been good enough to supply for tlie Journal the following abstract i,f his essay, to which the Howard Prize Medal for 1876 was awarded. I!