74
REPORT ON THE CALCUTTA MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS.
There are men who will take all they can get and give nothing in return. This is not
, however, the rule and after 13 years' experience, it is a great pleasure to me to be able to
state that most patients are willing to contribute a little towards the expenses of their sickness
if they are at all able to do so.
YEARS .
Diet allowance.
Rs.
1864
6,549
1865
9,479
1866
..7,519
1867
8,845
1868
8,249
YEARS.
Diet allowance.
Rs.
1869
8,727
1870
8,144
1871
8,770
1872
9,423
1873
9,054
I ought to remark here that for some years before a tax was levied on ships for the
benefit of sick seamen in this port. Masters of ships and agents freely paid what was asked of
them for the treatment of their sailors in this hospital.
Management.
Management.—The hospital is directed by a committee of European and Native gentle
men, but the burden and responsibility of the management in all its details devolves on the
civil surgeon. This task is now a heavy one, for the hospital is really not only a place for
the treatment of sick people, but it is a hotel or inn, inasmuch as the labor of looking after
hotel accounts is superadded to the management of the sick. The moment that payments are
received from patients the work of a hospital is enormously increased, inasmuch as bills have
to be made out and presented, moneys received, and accounts kept and audited. Thus the
bill department of a hospital is far more complex in its workings than that of a hotel, for
the reason that payments in most instances are not made by patients themselves, but by their
employers. In the hospital, payments are received from patients direct ; from the agency,
East Indian railway company ; from the port trust fund ; directors of private companies; and
from private benefactors. It will easily be understood that in a system like this it is not easy
to prevent petty fraud and peculation. The superintendent of the hospital is compelled to
devote from two to three hours daily (Sunday to Saturday) to the management of accounts
and the interior economy (other than medical) of the hospital.
Contract system.
Contract System. —The contract system of supply was introduced by my predecessor, and
I regret to say it has not worked well. Unless very correct lists and specifications are drawn
up before the contract is entered into and signed, it is subsequently found necessary to deviate
in some way from the strict letter of the contract, and this offers a loophole through which
the contractors, if so minded, can practise all the arts of chicane and imposition without much
legal risk. The contractors of this hospital have shown that they are quite ready to avail
themselves of such an opportunity when it offers.
Diet.
Diet. —The articles of diet, on the whole, have been supplied of fair quality during the
year. As the wards are divided into classes and charged for accordingly, the system of dieting,
like that of accounts, is rendered more complex. The private patients, who pay Rs. 2 daily,
expect a little more attention and indulgence than those in the railway wards, who pay only
Re. 1 daily ; while the patients in the main ward, who pay less or nothing at all, are more
easily satisfied.
Buildings.
Repairs, Improvements, and Additions.—During the year the hospital building has been
put in good repair at a cost of Rs. 3,453–8–2. Gas also has been laid in in all the wards and
passages at a cost of Rs. 491–12.
New native
h o s p i t a l .
In 1866 I moved Mr. Tottenham, the Magistrate of Howrah, to take measures to have a
new native hospital established on a considerable scale, as the accommodation for native sick
in the Howrah General Hospital was not sufficient to meet the requirements of the place.
Mr. Tottenham, after looking into the matter, agreed with me, and a committee of Native
gentlemen, with the Magistrate as Chairman, was appointed to carry out the project.
Government, when appealed to, gave Rs. 5,000 to purchase a building site, and the com
-
mittee worked well to accumulate funds. The effort was continued more or less intermittingly
over a period of six years, when it was found that a sum sufficient for the purpose could not
be raised It was therefore agreed on some time ago that the fund, amounting to Rs. 11,000,
should be made over on certain conditions to the committee of the General Hospital. This
has been done, and the conditions are that (1) a new ward for 12 Native beds be built at a
cost of Rs. 5,000; (2) that the remainder of the fund be invested in government securities for
the benefit of the Native patients in the hospital ; (3) that five Native members be added to the
committee of the General Hospital. The new ward is being built and is nearly finished; the
new Native members have been selected and their names submitted to government for approval ;
and the secretary of the bank of Bengal has been requested to invest the balance of the fund
made over in government securities. In the movement to establish a separate Native hospital,
Baboos Dwarka Nauth Banerjee and Umbica Churn Ghosal took the most prominent lead,
and are deserving of thanks.