The report of the ordinary and resident medical officers and the annual report of the Inspector and Director, of the Public Hospital, for 1864, with the reply of the ordinary medical officers thereto : the letter of Alexander Fiddes ... and his correspondence with the governor, and the executive committee on the subject of his resignation and retirement from the Hospital : the letter of L.Q. Bowerbank ... in reply to Dr. Fiddes, and Dr. Fiddes' reply to same : also, the evidence adduced at the coroner's inquest, held on Richard Bailey, lately an inmate of the Public Hospital.
- Kingston Public Hospital (Jamaica)
- Date:
- 1865
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The report of the ordinary and resident medical officers and the annual report of the Inspector and Director, of the Public Hospital, for 1864, with the reply of the ordinary medical officers thereto : the letter of Alexander Fiddes ... and his correspondence with the governor, and the executive committee on the subject of his resignation and retirement from the Hospital : the letter of L.Q. Bowerbank ... in reply to Dr. Fiddes, and Dr. Fiddes' reply to same : also, the evidence adduced at the coroner's inquest, held on Richard Bailey, lately an inmate of the Public Hospital. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
![■ Liter admission ; 12 within 24 hours ; 10 within 48 hours, and 13 within hours, being an aggregate of 47 deaths or more than a fifth of the entire deal in the Institution. If to these 47 deaths there be added the 50 deaths from pulmonary col sumption, there is an aggregate of 97 deaths, or nearly a-half of the who] that occurred in patients, nearly all of whom, on their first appearance | the Hospital were evidently beyond the reach of curative treatment, and these 97 deaths be deducted fr’om the total mortality, as in strict justice th should be, the death rate of the Institution would fall to between five a six per cent., notwithstanding the very high rate of mortality among t patients in the female division. With regard to-the Surgical practice of the Hospital, it will be perceiv by Table No. 4, that 137 surgical operations were performed during the yed and that 11 of the patients died, being a death rate of 8.2 per cent, on t] total number. Comparing the Surgical with that of the preceding year, a decrease v.i be observed in the rate of mortality thereby placing the Kingston Hospital favourable comparison with those of the United Kingdom. Taking tj amputations of the extremities as the class of operations generally used i comparing the results of the practice of different hospitals, we find by t most recently published tables, that in the Hospitals of Great Britain, tj rate of mortality in amputation of the forearm is, 10.81 per cent. In amp tation of the upper arm, 28.34 per cent. In amputation at the shoulder job 38.93 percent. In amputation of the leg, 34.28.per cent. In amputation the knee, 35 per cent. In amputation of the thigh, 41. 60 per cent. During the past year, there have been in the Kingston Hospital, k amputations of the forearm, of which none died, 4 amputations of the upp arm, of which none died. One amputation at the shoulder joint, that] coverd. 31 amputations of the leg, of which seven died, equal to a deat rate of 22.58 per cent. Three amputations at the knee, of which one die being a death-rate of 33 i per cent. Six amputations of the thigh, of wki one died, being a death rate of 36.66 per cent. It will thus be seen, that in the foregoing class of surgical operatio: (which is that usually adopted as a standard for comparison between the pra tice of different Hospitals) the rate of mortality here has been considerafe under the average death-rate in the principal Hospitals of the Unit. Kingdom. It is proper to mention that these statistical figures embrace amputate for injury, as well as for disease, and that they all include primary si secondary operations. With regard to the female inmates of the Institution, we have to rexBft that the premises in the yard on the northside of North Street, now occupii by them, are utterly unfit for the purpose for which they are used. This outside appendage of the Institution, consists of a range of wood buildings, three in number, which contain altogether 28 beds. There is &1 a, fourth room, of like construction with the others, which is used by t Head Nurse as a residence. All these rooms are old, decayed, and not watt proof. None of them have any proper ventilation, inasmuch as the b» main wall upon which the wooden structure have been raised, are entire destitute of windows, nor is it possible to form any, in consequence of the ve: limited height of the wall which scarcely rises more than six feet above tl •level of the floor, in range No. 1. nor more than eight or nine feet in range No 2 and 3. The roof is uncealed and unboarded, the rooms are in con? quence, excessively lint, and suffocating during the day, and equally so • night, from the stagnation and want of circulation of air through the war! Ascertain amount of fresh air can certainly enter these rooms through tl -doorwae s and windows in their thin wooden frontage ; but in what mann the visitatud atmosphere of the wards can make its escape, it is nor. easy • •determine. Altogether these rooms form as wretched an apology for HosDital as can be well conceived, and arc unquestionably a disgrace to l l r.viro n<*J5 pftt](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22317983_0010.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
