The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 29, 1863.

LONDON AND COUNTRY HOSPITALS.

A physician in a letter to a contemporary says :—The
present aspect of this controversy, coupled with the Grand
Committee's report presented at the last general meeting of
the Governors of St. Thomas's Hospital, with Mr. Tite's
speech supporting it, and the particular time chosen for the
publication of Dr. Leeson's pamphlet, render it expedient
to keep the matter for a while longer under the wholesome
surveillance which you have brought to bear upon it so
beneficially.

After the general manifestation of public opinion, headed
by yourself, against removing the hospital out of the reach
of the poor of London, it might have been supposed that
the promoters of that project, if they had fully and finally
relinquished it, would have been glad to let its memory
pass into oblivion. Instead of doing so they bring it for-
ward conspicuously, occupying a larger portion of their
report with quotations ostensibly in its favour from the
writings of medical gentlemen whose opinion, when it
differed from their own, they treated not merely with
neglect, but with contumely. I should be sorry to accuse
the Grand Committee of garbling these extracts, but surely
nothing could be more calculated to mislead than the intro-
duction of isolated sentences without reference to the con-
text, from which alone the real sentiments of a writer can
be gathered. Now this is what the framers of the report
have done, justifying Mr. Simon's indignant remonstrance
conveyed through Deputy Elliott, and illustrating the
sagacity of your own remark, that you would " like to see
the context of these passages before attributing inconsis-
tency to their authors."

When I see the prominence given to the quasi arguments
for the country scheme, and read the recommendation tc
leave " the desirability of obtaining a second site for he
erection of an auxiliary suburban hospital for future consi-
deration," I am irresistibly compelled to collate this passage
with a remarkable clause in Mr. Tite's speech. What does
he mean by saying that the plan of dividing the institution
into two parts, one in London and the other in the country,
is not to be proceeded with, "at least for the present."
The qualification has a perplexing sound. Is it a lapsu
linguce, or an oblique intimation of a design which is neither
dead nor dormant, but only latent, awaiting its opportunity
when the public mind shall have gone to sleep upon the
subject ? In plain English, is the project as extinct as people
hoped it was ?

Dr. Leeson's mischievcus pamphlet is put forth as an
apple of discord almost simultaneously with the promulga-
tion of the report. May I inquire, is not Dr. Leeson, on
this question of sites, the peculiar confidant of the treasurer
and his party ? Is not his egregious effusion an ingenious
device to keep the question alive ? It would seem so. Not
much effect need be apprehended from the seductive rhetoric
of a gentleman who cites the existence of scarlet fever as a
special charge against the present hospital at a time when
the Registrar-General (see his last week's report) dwells
on the unusual mortality from that disorder in London and
the surrounding districts. Bat his folly in this particular
does not diminish the significance of the coincidence be-
tween the appearance of his brochure and the laboured com-
pilation of incomplete extracts on the report.
If the Grand Committee (or those who lead them) wish
to purge themselves from liability to unpleasant suspicions
or imputations of any kind, their course is a very simple one.
You have yourselves shown how to solve the difficulty, and
indicated an effectual mode of reconciling all the great, in-
terests concerned, including emphatically the welfare of
every class of patients. Should it be determined not to keep
the institution permanently in its present situation, there is
no necessity to go to a nursery of contagion like that de-
nounced by Mr. Whitfield, nor to emigrate three miles from
London-bridge, nor to complicate the finances of the hos-
pital with intricate and unmanageable proprietary interests.
It appears that the authorities have it in their power to ob-
tain the best site in the meridian of South London. The
removal of lunatic patients, whose term of treatment or de-
tention is usually so much more protracted than that of
ordinary cases of illness or injury, from London to the
country
might be beneficial to them, while the construction
of St. Thomas's Hospital ou so good a site would be unob-
jectionable for the sick poor of the metropolis, and the
money saved in the abundant materials would abate the ex-
ceptional amount of the purchase cost.
With such facts in their possession, I can conceive no
course more befitting the Grand Committee than to make
themselves fully masters of all the details of the terms upon
which Bethlehem can be obtained, and draw up an exact
statement of the facts for the information of the governors.

Under any circumstances, it would be a graceful, benefi-
cial, and sagacieus step to act upon the excellent hint
thrown out by you for effecting a co-operation of the prin-
cipal metropolitan hospitals in establishing a sanatorium—
call it what you please—for the reception of those patients,
convalescent or otherwise, whose peculiar condition may
render country quarters desirable. This suggestion, indeed,
I regard as the keystone of a great system of permanent and
invaluable utility. It contains the solution of many pro-
blems and difficulties which have long occupied the minds
of medical men and others in connection with this depart-
ment of sanitary science, and, if carried out in the spirit
indicated by you, would lead to results which must be con-
templated with delight by all who compa4ionate the suffer-
ings of their afflicted fellow-creatures. I cannot doubt that
the managers of other hospitals would willingly enter into
the favourable consideration of any plan proposed for so
good a purpose. If, after the wrangling and cross purposes
which have characterised the recent history of St. Thomas's,
the Grand Committee can seeure the honour of originating
such a system (and the transition state of the institution
renders them the most appropriate parties to do so), they
will have effected a noble vindication of their motives and
an atonement for any previous errors in their policy, and
created an enduring record of the fortunate result of their
administration.

1 fully appreciate the cogency of your reference to the
probable capabilities of the new Surrey County Hospital for
accommodating convalescent and other patients remitted
from hospitals in London. It is highly probable that an
arrangement could be made with the managers of that esta-
blishment for the reception of a considerable number of in-
mates.

A ward might be set apart for patients transferred from
one or more of the London hospitals, which would be at no
expense save that of fitting up and furnishing it, the cost
of conveyance, and an equitable sum for maintenance and
treatment; or the reception of the patients from Loudon
might be contracted for. The situation of the Surrey County
Hospital will be healthful and eligible, and the matter might
be managed with ease and satisfaction to all parties, leaving
no pretext for expending the funds of St. Thomas's in creat-
ing and keeping up a separate establishment. In the absence,
or pending the creation, of the more complete organisation
suggested by your other remarks, and for which so far an
opportunity is now about to present itself, such an arrange-
ment with the country establishment would be useful and
economical. But, feeling the importance of the salutary
principle of co-operation, as outlined by you, receiving that
full consideration which would insure its ultimate adoption,
I earnestly trust it will not be lost sight of, but be brought
formally under the cognisance of those who are intrusted
with the administration of the great London hospitals.
Economy, convenience, humanity alike commend it. Its
introduction will mark an era of genuine advance. Now
that the feasibility of accomplishing so grand and salutary
an improvement has been mooted, it looks like foolish trif-
ling to talk about turning London hospitals partly into the
country, or unnecessarily incurring the enormous waste
which would be involved in separate convalescent establish-
ments there.