Hospital reform : revised report of a speech, delivered at the general meeting of the Medico-Political Association, held in Birmingham, April 17, 1868 / by Sampson Gamgee.

  • Gamgee, Sampson, 1828-1886.
Date:
1868
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Hospital reform : revised report of a speech, delivered at the general meeting of the Medico-Political Association, held in Birmingham, April 17, 1868 / by Sampson Gamgee. 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.

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    like Brougham and Lyndhurst, Campbell and Sugden, never failed to claim from the public the reward of their brilliant talents, and fought their way into the most honourable positions in the State, where enjoying abso- lute independence, they could afford to give the world and their brethren the benefit of the truth, as revealed to them by the light of genius and experience. But even those great legislators and statesmen would have been unable to overcome the indifference, if not the opposi- tion, of their profession to reform, if they had not occupied an independent position, whence they could appeal, from the self-interest of the few, to the judg- ment of Parliament and the people, for the common welfare. It is so with the reform of all sections of society and of all corporate interests, which must sub- serve the public and not the public them. The sense of equity and right, of independent thinkers and the mass of mankind, is the surest, indeed the only thoroughly reliable ally, of the few who endeavour to break down barriers to progress, and to throw off the stifling oppression of routine. Originally founded as almshouses, it was only at a comparatively recent epoch that Hospitals were utilised as Schools of Practical Medicine and Surgery; and i£ is now generally accepted that no Hospital fulfils its mis- sion, unless it contributes to the growth of knowledge on the nature and mode of treatment of diseases, as well as to their relief in the persons of the poor appli- cants. That the latter is the primary and fundamental object will not be disputed; but it is carried out in a