10
REPORT ON THE
21. In the table the total expenditure in 1879 appears as Rs. 3,70,744
to compare with Rs. 3,64,484 in 1878. The apparent increase is due to inclusion
of the entire charge for medicines, &c., in 1879, a great portion of which was
omitted in 1878. If this be excluded from both figures, they become
Rs. 3,51,596 for 1878 and Rs. 3,46,845 for 1879. Even thus corrected the
totals are of little value for comparison for reasons already given, which
comparison can only be justly made after detailed examination of the several
heads of charge in each hospital.
22. Medical College Hospital.—The total sum invested, that is the capital
of endowment funds, is unaltered. It is Rs. 1,07,300, erroneously entered in
1878 as Rs. 1,07,400. The cash balance or accumulated interest of these funds
is Rs. 4,727, showing an increment of Rs. 1,942 over the sum at credit in 1878.
23. Receipts from local and other funds, that is payments by patients and
from the Port Fund, appear this year as Rs. 3,564, against Rs. 7,162 in the
previous year. It will be remembered that in 1879 nearly all sick seamen
were by order received into the General Hospital.
24. Interest on invested capital appears as Rs. 3,387, against Rs. 2,702
in 1878. The capital being the same, and the stock unchanged, the available
interest must be the same in each year. Differences therefore can only exist in
the amounts drawn for expenditure.
25. The sums entered as received from Government under distinct heads
of charge represent merely the sums paid from Provincial revenues and the
money value of stores received on indent. The "special allowance" is the
balance of total expenditure over the specified charges, after deducting the
money received on account of patients and paid into the treasury. This
figure stands at Rs. 39,600 in 1879, against Rs. 37,359 in 1878. This last
figure should be Rs. 30,147, as will be seen hereafter. It will also be seen that
further correction is needed for payments from special endowment funds.
26. The charge for establishment shows only a minute difference from
that of 1878, viz. a decrease of Rs. 111. The physicians and surgeons of the
hospital draw their salaries from the college, and no debit appears in this
account.
27. There was an increase in 1879 in the expenditure on bazar
medicines, which rose from Rs. 752 to Rs. 1,104, or nearly the same amount as
in 1877. There were fewer in-door, but more out-door patients. This is an
item of charge that requires to be closely watched.
28. The cost of English medicines and forms in 1879 was Rs. 12,990,
the corresponding amount in 1878 being Rs. 10,153. This item, as it stands,
must not be compared with the charge at the Mayo Hospital, which in consti
- t u t i o n m o s t n e a r l y r e s e m b l e s t h e o t h e r . A v e r a g e a t t e n d a n c e o f o u t - p a t i e n t s
does not mean quite the same thing at the two places with reference to
consumption of drugs. Frequency of attendance is determined mainly by the
quantity of medicine issued on each occasion. One day's supply is commonly
issued at the Mayo Hospital and two days' at the College. The same number
of attendances at the latter will represent about double the number of persons
treated therefore, and a larger consumption of medicine. Unfortunately the
returns do not show the number of persons treated, and true comparison is
impossible; but the excess of expenditure at the College, though great, is not
so great as it appears in the table. Attention has been called to existing orders
on the subject of returns under which the missing information should have been
given. Record is also now kept of actual quantity of medicines issued to each
patient.
29. Diet cost in 1879 Rs. 30,884, against Rs. 30,945 in 1878, or nearly the
same. The charge in 1877 was Rs. 44,797; in 1876 it was Rs. 46,303, and
Rs. 48,209 in 1875. The daily average cost of diet per patient in 1879 is
variously stated in the report at 6 annas 7¾ pie and 6 annas 7½ pie for
Europeans; and 3 annas 11/7 pie, 3 annas 1½ pie, and 3 annas ¾ p i e f o r n a t i v e s .
These rates include stimulants and extras. The corresponding rates in
1878 were 6 annas for Europeans and 3 annas 8 pies for natives. The
charge for alcoholic stimulants was as moderate in 1879 as in 1878. It was
Rs. 814 in the earlier and Rs. 806 in the latter year, to compare with Rs. 3,530
in 1877 and Rs. 4 607 in 1876.