4
REPORT ON THE
Taking in and out-patients together, there was an increase of 12,600 men,
7,583 women, and 5,951 children. Europeans diminished by 882, chiefly, no
doubt, owing to there being fewer sailors in port, as 592 out of the total decrease
was at the Presidency General Hospital and Howrah. There were 83 fewer
women and 45 fewer children treated at the Eden Hospital, owing, in the opinion
of the Obstetric Physician, to cases which would formerly have been admitted
being now treated as out-patients. This explanation is, I think, reasonable, since
patients who can be treated as out-patients naturally prefer remaining at home
to coming into hospital. Eurasians increased by 1,024, Muhammadans by
7,089, Hindus by 16,663, and other classes by 2,240.
6. Mortality was as shown in the following table:—
Deaths in the Calcutta Hospitals in 1893 and ten previous years.
YEARS.
ALL DISEASES EXCEPT
CASES TREATED IN
THE EYE INFIRMARY.
CHOLERA.
Death-rate
per cent.,
excluding
cholera.
Number of
deaths
registered
by the
municipal-
ity.
Rate per
cent. of
population.
Treated. Died.
Died
per
cent.
Treated. Died.
Died
per
cent.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1883 ...
... 19,872
2,719
13.6
932
510
54.7
11.6
12,325
2.84
1884 ...
... 20,833
3,058
14.6
1,023
536
52.3
12.7
13,256
3.05
1885 ...
... 22,925
2,918
12.7
627
362
57.7
11.4
12,707
2.93
1886 ...
... 23,174
2,733
11.7
781
424
54.2
10.3
11,447
2.64
1887 ...
... 21,918
2,591
11.8
612
341
55.7
10.5
10,979
2.53
1888 ...
... 22,167
2,750
12.4
905
521
57.5
10.4
11,685
2.69
1889 ...
... 23,721
2,992
12.6
795
419
52.7
11.2
11,682
2.69
1890 ...
... 23,760
2,950
12.4
528
291
55.1
11.4
12,382
2.85
1891 ...
... 24,787
3,170
12.7
761
455
59.7
11.3
13,033
2.79
1892 ...
... 24,677
3,141
12.7
709
425
59.9
11.3
12,674
2.71
1893 ...
... 25,509
3,287
12.8
431
241
55.9
12.1
12,113
2.59
The death-rate, excluding eye cases, of all the hospitals taken together (12.8)
is about the average, and, as will be seen by column 4, has varied little for many
years. An aggregate death-rate is, however, very misleading, and a glance at
the next table will show the enormous differences which go to make up the
average. Thus, while the mean death-rate for males is 12.07, it is only 2.97
at the Chandney Hospital, while it is 17.89, or six times as great, at Sealdah, and
21.48 at Howrah. Women died at the rate of 5.32 per cent. at the Presidency
General Hospital and at 33.69 per cent. at Howrah. It would be a very mistaken
i nf er ence, however , t o deduce f r om t he bar e f i gur es t hat t he Pr es i dency Gener al
Hospital was healthy and well managed, and the Howrah Hospital the
reverse. Hospital statistics are the most misleading in the world, unless all
the circumstances of each hospital are known. The nature and importance
of the cases treated, the proportion of medical to surgical cases, the con-
dition of the patients on admission, the admission or exclusion of particular
diseases such as the exanthematous fevers, venereal diseases, eye cases, &c., are
all important factors in the death-rate. Some of the finest and best managed
modern hospitals have very high death-rates, and some of the worst and
oldest, low ones; but the first take in by preference all cases whose need
is greatest, while the others exclude all infectious or apparently moribund cases.
At Sealdah and Howrah no patients are refused, and large numbers of dying
persons picked up by the police are brought to each, while the majority of the
patients are of the very poorest classes, living under the worst sanitary condi-
tions. At the Chandney Hospital very few moribunds are admitted, and many
of the in-patients are persons suffering from slight injuries. The female
patients at the Presidency General Hospital are, for the most part, Europeans
and Eurasians in fairly easy circumstances, admitting of no comparison with
those treated at Sealdah or Howrah. The mortality in each hospital will be
considered hereafter. No valid deductions can be drawn from their death-rates
taken as unexplained figures.