No. 287
[ LXXX]
Appendix XV.
(Colonial Surgeon to Chairman, Tung Wa Hospital Commission.)
GOVERNMENT CIVIL HOSPITAL,
HONGKONG, 22nd June, 1896.
Sir,
In accordance with your request I inspected the Tung Wa Hospital on Friday, the 19th instant, and was pleased to note the improvement made in the wards by the removal of the cubical screens, as I recommended in my Annual Report for 1894. This is an improvement to all the large wards for medical cases. These wards are now well ventilated and can be kept clean, but constant supervision will be necessary to see that this is done. The only one of the large wards that is not well ventilated is the surgical ward on the ground floor; the back verandah is close to a high blank wall which obstructs both air and light; the front verandah opens into the passage way between it and the great Hall, so not much air and light get in in this way. The two other sides are blank walls in one of which is the door of entry, which opens into a passage of the main building. This ward is only fit for a store room. Now that the old Mortuary is done away with and the new Mortuary has been opened, which is a very great improve- ment, there is ample space for the construction of a new ward and proper coolies' quarters and then better arrangements could be made for surgical cases. I would also suggest that the Visiting Surgeon should daily report on the surgical cases admitted which he considers stand a fair chance of recovery or relief, if removed to a European hospital, that if possible they may be removed for treatment to the Government Civil Hospital or Alice Memorial Hospital if arrangements could be made with that institution. As the attendance there is almost wholly Chinese, they might have less objection to removal. As both plague cases and small-pox cases are now subject to removal from the Tung Wa Hospital, I would also recommend that typhoid cases should not be permitted to remain in that institution or any other infectious disease which is a serious danger to the community generally. The quilted bedding which cannot be washed or cleaned should be replaced by blankets. Now that they have a good washing house, bedding as well as clothing can be easily cleaned. If these things could be arranged much would be gained. The trivial cases, the bed-ridden and hopeless cases for which only the Hospital is fitted would be nearly all that remained,-cases which with difficulty find hospital accommodation at Home. Such cases as persisted in objection to European treatment and elected to remain in the Tung Wa would at any rate gain more as regards good diet and accommodation than they could possibly obtain in their own houses. The reason against the establishment of a Pauper Hospital in Hongkong is that this Colony is in no way comparable to the Colony of Singapore and Penang; those colonies contain many thousands of Chinese who have been born there and many thousands that never intend to return to their native land, and they are a considerable distance from China. Whereas in this Colony of the 240,000 Chinese there are only a few hundreds who are permanent residents; they come here as we do with the intention of making money and returning to their native land, Hongkong being close to the mainland. There are already two Hospitals for Chinese in this Colony where the attendance and treatment are mainly carried on by native doctors and attendants educated on European principles, under European supervision. These hospitals are supported by voluntary contributions and are never overcrowded though they are well known by and advertised among the Chinese and are now supported largely by native contributions. Suppose we established a Pauper Hospital
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