C 13
9. (The Sino-Japanese hostilities with the consequent influx of refugees to the Colony have had very far-reaching effects on Chinese Hospitals and when it is remembered that the total number of beds in the three hospitals is just under 1,100 the figures given in the attached Table are almost unbelievable. In the early months of 1938 it became apparent that the accommodation in these hospitals was taxed to the uttermost, and some scheme for the immediate relief of the dangerous congestion had to be evolved. It was thought that if a proportion of the patients suffering from chronic curable maladies requiring prolonged hospitalisation could be transferred to another building, (equipped on the lines of a convalescent home rather than as a modern hospital), then space and opportunity would be made for the care and treatment of the crowds of sick and dying who daily thronged the admission wards of the Tung Wah Hospitals Government, therefore, decided to convert Lai Chi Kok Prison, which had been closed when the new prison at Stanley was built, into a Chinese Relief Hospital for the accommodation of patients from the Tung Wah group with chronic but curable illnesses, particularly beri-beri.) Lai Chi Kok Relief Hospital was opened in May 1938 and its 300 beds are always full. It cannot be said that the opening of this hospital has relieved to any marked extent the congestion in the wards of Chinese Hospitals, they are still as crowded as ever, but at least the average length of stay of patients has decreased, many more patients have been dealt with in a shorter time, and cures have been effected which could not have taken place in the congested wards of the Tung Wah Hospitals. The experiment has been valuable in another respect; it proves that the degree of usefulness of such an institution as Lai Chi Kok, meagrely equipped and unexpensively maintained, is only limited by its modest accommodation, and in this Colony where the demand for medical services by the sick poor is so great the possibility of expanding medical facilities along the lines adopted at Lai Chi Kok is worthy of further consideration.
10. In April a Chinese sister-tutor was appointed by Government to the three Chinese Hospitals Nurses Training Schools, and there has been a marked improvement in the general standard of nursing in the wards, which has, of course, been favourably reflected in the results of candidates from Chinese Hospitals at the Nurses Board Examinations. By training Chinese women in nursing and midwifery these hospitals play an important part in the dissemination of health education among the poor and ignorant members of the community.
11. At the beginning of the year Government seconded for service in the Tung Wah Hospital a charge dresser, who is responsible for nursing in male wards and the training of male dressers, some of whom have enrolled as probationers under the Nurses Registration Ordinance and will later sit the Nurses Board examinations.
12. In spite of the tremendous strain placed on the Tung Wah Hospitals Committee and on the medical and nursing staffs during 1938, the year must be recorded as one of progress, characterised by improvements in buildings and equipment, better conditions of service for the nursing staff, acceleration of diagnosis and treatment of patients, and expansion of the maternity and child welfare clinics run in conjunction with the maternity departments.
THE WANCHAI OR EASTERN MATERNITY HOSPITAL.
13. This hospital is run in conjunction with the Eastern Dispensary, in charge of a Western-trained Chinese Doctor and continues to provide most satisfactory and efficient service for this densely populated district. The total number of beds is 31, and the number of admissions 931. There were four maternal deaths during the year.