Part III. ]
PROVINCIAL HOSPITALS AND DISPENSARIES.
95
Classification of the
new dispensaries.
Medical Institutions;" but in addition to the regular provincial dispensaries,
there were no less than 109 temporary or endemic dispensaries established to
meet the wants of fever-stricken localities (70 such dispensaries were worked in
Burdwan, 17 in Beerbhoom, 16 in Midnapore and 6 in Hooghly). Thus al-
together there were in the province, including the metropolitan hospitals,
318 institutions of all sorts maintained for the medical relief of the sick
poor. Fifteen of the newly established dispensaries were constituted under
class III of the new rules, and under the old classification would have been
termed "branch" dispensaries, one was under class VII and is a sub-divisional
dispensary, and thirteen were established under special conditions in classes
IV or I, and may be considered as " main" dispensaries.
Proportion of
institutions treating
in-door patients.
Medical establish-
ment.
Returns were received from 188 of the 198 provincial dispensaries, and
of the former, 136, or 72 per cent., treated in-door patients, against 114 or 68
per cent. in 1872. Of the dispensaries which treated in-door patients, 67, or 49.3
per cent., treated less, and 69, or 50.7 per cent., more than 100 patients,
figures which show a distinct advance upon the previous year. As regards
out-door patients, 84 per cent. treated more than 1,000 patients in the course of
the year, against 74.4 per cent. in 1872, and five dispensaries treated more
than 10,000 patients. There were 49 assistant surgeons, 49 hospital assist-
ants and 98 native doctors, besides a medical missionary at Hiranpore, and a
house surgeon at Dacca, in charge of dispensaries. Total 198, against 170
in 1872. The chief increase took place in the native doctor class. Of the
native doctors and hospital assistants, 86 per cent. knew English sufficiently
to keep their dispensary records in that language.
The following statement shows the amount of relief given by these
dispensaries, as well as the death-rate of in-door patients. A great increase is
observed in the number treated as compared with any of the preceding five years.
Number treated.
STATEMENT No. XXI.
YEARS.
1868
...
...
...
1869 ... ... ...
1870
...
...
...
1871
...
...
...
1872
...
...
...
1873 ... ... ...
In-patients
treated.
16,598
18,055
17,481
17,892
18,118
20,240
Out-patients
treated.
346,845
367,757
384,960
405,528
439,177
598,470
Total.
363,443
385,812
402,441
423,420
457,295
618,710
Mortality among
in-patients
per cent.
18.34
16.94
16.17
15.41
16.07
16.22
The Surgeon-General observes as follows :—
In 1872 there was increased attendance to the extent of 8 per cent. over that registered
for the previous year, but it was almost limited to out-patients, that for in-patients having
been only 1.2 per cent. Last year the increase was at the rate of 11.7 per cent. for in, and
35.3 per cent. for out-patients. If to the total sick treated in these dispensaries, viz.,
618,710, be added those received in the Calcutta institutions, and in the special dispensaries
established in the fever-stricken districts of Burdwan, Beerbhoom, Midnapore and Hooghly,
the grand total of cases that obtained medical relief in Government hospitals and dispensaries
in 1873 was 1,804,984.
This latter number, enormous though it be, shows a considerable decrease
upon the results obtained in 1872, but this is accounted for by the closing of
many of the endemic dispensaries in Burdwan. The daily average number of
in-door patients treated in the provincial hospitals and dispensaries was 974
against 869 in 187.2, and of out-door patients 6,683 against 5,264. The
number of patients treated per cent. of population varied from 38.8 in Burdwan,
to 0.16 in Purneah.
Surgical operations.
Estimating success by the number of surgical operations performed, we
find subject for congratulation. There were 2,045 "major" and 25,889 minor
operations recorded against 1,559 and 18,273 in 1872. Operations for the
restoration of sight are receiving increased attention from civil surgeons.
Amputations numbered 115, and lithotomy was performed 136 times with a
death-rate of 8.8 per cent. Appended will be found a table (No. 4) of the more
important surgical operations performed throughout the year.
Death-rate.
The death-rate has been slightly higher than the general average of late
years (16.22 against 18.07 in 1872; 15.41 in 1871, and 16.99 the mean of the