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401. This hospital at the time of its construction was considered to have all the requirements necessary for the proper treatment of smallpox cases by Chinese methods.
402. There was room for 60 cases without overcrowding but there was no arrangement for heating the wards and no water carriage system.
403. The staff consists of a Chinese coolie as a caretaker and an amah. There is no resident doctor and no clerk and there are neither dressers nor nurses.
404. A herbalist from the Tung Wah visits daily and prescribes infusions but there is no attempt at nursing. Certain hospital clothing is provided but the patients as often as not wear their own clothes.
405. Considered to be a herbalist hospital it is seldom visited by any of the Western-trained Tung Wah staff, and for all practical purposes it is controlled by the caretaker and the herbalist. There being no trained staff resident and the control being such as it is there must be grave doubts regarding the efficiency of the disinfection processes and the means taken to prevent dissemination of disease by patients, contacts and fomites.
406. 47 cases of smallpox were admitted during the year. There were 18 deaths, giving a case death rate of 47.9 per cent.
407. For some years this institution has been neglected with the result that the fabric is now in a very dilapidated condition.
408. There can be no doubt that conditions at this hospital are unsatisfactory both from the point of view of the patients and that of the public.
THE WANCHAI OR EASTERN MATERNITY HOSPITAL.
409. This hospital is run in conjunction with the Eastern Dispensary. It is in charge of a Western-trained Chinese Doctor and continues to provide most satisfactory and efficient service for this densely populated district.
410. The total number of beds is 31, and the number of admissions 857. This shows a slight falling off from last year when the number was 903. There was one maternal death during the year. The smaller number of patients is in all probability due to the greater use that is now being made of the Tung Wah Eastern Hospital.