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4. MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS. - cont'd.
Here, I will only say that it is desirable that infectious disease cases off ships or aircraft should not be brought into the heart of the Colony for hospitalization, and that some improvement in the care and welfare of lepers found in the Colony should be instituted.
It would be a good thing not only from the individual leper's point of view, but also from a political stand point, to ensure the best possible treatment while under detention in the Colony.
The practice at
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present is for lepers found.
in the Colony to be detained temporarily and, as soon as possible, sent to the settlement at Shek Lung in Kwangtung for care and treatment, which is paid for by the Colony. This, doubtless, is a wise procedure because the establish- ment of an up-to-date Leper settlement in the Colony would almost certainly attract lepers from outside and the Colony would be saddled with responsibilities for which it was not liable and which it could not estimate or control.
There is one Mental чospital for the whole Colony in a rather congested area of Victoria; there are 108 beds divided between male and female cases. Unless mental cases have a birth qualification they are transferred to Canton under arrangements between the respective governments; the charges for their care are met by the Hong Kong Government. About seventy Hong Kong patients are usually accommodated at the hospital. The building is about twentyseven years old and outdoor exercise depends on the courtyards provided. There is no provision for industrial occupational therapy. This hospital should undoubtedly be transferred to a better site, (it is at present on a hill-slope), where land would be available for agricultural pursuits and for providing facilities for industrial occupation and rehabilitation, leading to better chances of recovery.
The Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital is immediately under a Chinese matron and Lt.Col. Gordon King is consultant. Obviously he takes a great pride in it and conditions in the hospital are excellent. It deals with some 4,000 cases annually, and forms a teaching school with resident physician and two students resident at a time. There are ten pupil midwives always in training and there are six sisters with two matrons in nursing charge. The term "nursing sister" in Hong Kong is used to denote a grade; this is unlike the position in many Colonies. There is no provision for cases requiring isolation and Col. Gordon King hopes to secure a bombed site on Crown Land adjacent and build an isolation block there. He would like to have all maternity cases dealt with in hospital, for the reason that it is quite impracticable to conduct confine- ments in the ordinary tenement building. The hospital
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