medical facilities are somewhat restricted and cases requiring major surgery or special attention are transferred to one or other of the major general hospitals.
Assisted Hospitals.
87. The Government subsidizes 7 hospitals run by private organizations. These are, the 8 hospitals of the Tung Wah Group, together providing 1,255 beds; the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital run by the London Missionary Society and providing 250 beds; the Ruttonjee Sanatorium run by the Hong Kong Anti-Tuberculosis Association and providing 230 beds for the treatment of cases of tuberculosis: the Pok Oi Hospital at Yuen Long with 39 beds, run by a Board of Directors on the same basis as the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, and the Hayling Island Leprosarium and Maxwell Memorial Hospital for the treatment of lepers, which is run by the Mission to Lepers. During the year this centre for the treatment of leprosy provided accommodation for 500 patients but this accommodation is being increased. With the exception of the 2 specialized hospitals the others all deal with general medical and surgical cases, the Tung Wah hospital being particularly useful and extremely overcrowded. The Tung Wah hospitals. assist the Government hospitals by taking in a large number of long term patients and the maternity section of the Kwong Wah hospital is perhaps the most popular and by far the busiest in the Colony. Excellent schools of nursing and midwifery are conducted in the Tung Wah hospitals and also in the London Mission Hospital which recently added a large new block to their premises to handle maternity and gynaecological cases.
Specialist Services.
88. Government provides specialist services in medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, ophthalmology, dermato- logy, radiology, tuberculosis, venereal diseases, dentistry and pathology. In addition the Professors of the clinical subjects of the University Medical Faculty offer consultative services in medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, pathology and orthopaedics, the last being a service in which as yet Govern-
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ment does not provide specialist attention although Government medical officers are in training with the intention of ultimately providing such service.
Medical and Surgical Services.
89. Close co-operation has been established between the Surgical Unit, the Medical Unit and the Department of Radiology. An out-patient clinic for patients suffering from thyroid diseases was run in conjunction with the University Medical Unit. This arrangement permitted of very careful assessment of patients and pre-operative medication, in con- sequence of which it was possible to effect considerable economy in the time spent in the hospital for pre-operative treatment. Similarly as a result of this close co-operation with the Medical Specialists, cases of splenic and allied diseases could be thoroughly investigated and followed up. Physicians had free access to the surgical wards to which such cases were admitted and attended operations. It is intended shortly to publish certain valuable observations which have been made possible as a result of this team work. Similarly as a result of close co- operation with the Department of Radiology and the University of Pathology more thorough control and investigation and treat- ment of cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma was possible. As a sub-department the Thoracic Surgical Unit continued to provide a very good service in close liaison with the Department of Tuberculosis.
Obstetrical and Gynaecological Service.
90. The specialist Obstetrical and Gynaecological service on the island is provided by the University Unit at Queen Mary Hospital and Tsau Yuk Hospital. The Government Obstetrical and Gynaecological specialist is based at Kowloon Hospital and a large part of his work is concerned with out-patient clinics. The number of attendances at these clinics, although limited by the small number of beds available for admission and the limited operating theatre facilities, has continued to rise. third class obstetric work is restricted mainly to Government servants and their dependents but abnormal cases referred from outside by private practitioners or other Government officers
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