213. The whole process of health education is necessarily a gradual one since it depends upon arousing sufficient interest in the people to produce a striving for better health as opposed to mere avoidance of disease.
IV. THE WORK OF THE MEDICAL DIVISION General Survey of Hospitals.
214. Apart from nursing homes, and excluding the Armed Services' facilities, there are 28 hospitals in the Colony. Eleven of these are the responsibility of the Medical Department, and the other seventeen are run by various private organizations. Seven of the institutions in this latter category receive sub- atantial assistance from Government in respect of the charitable services which they offer. Details of all these institutions are attached at Appendix 7. More specific information of the actual work done in Government hospitals and in the assisted hospitals are given at Appendix 8, in which the classification of diseases follows the International Standard Classification (International list of 150 causes). Details of in-patients treated in all hospitala during the year are shown at Appendix 8A.
215. The eleven Government hospitals provide a total of 1,999 beds, the Government-assisted hospitals 2,477 beds, and private hospitals 1,172 beds. In addition, various Government Dispensaries provide a further 98 beds, mainly in the New Territories and practically all for maternity cases, and there are 520 beds in private maternity and nursing homes. There is therefore in the Colony a total of 6,266 beds for all purposes including the mentally ill and those suffering from infectious diseases. Excluding the 1,197 beds set aside for tuberculosis, the 141 beds for the mentally ill and the 803 beds for the treatment of infectious diseases (including leprosy), there are therefore 4,125 beds available for all general purposes, including maternity. Assuming the population to be about 2,500,000 this gives a figure of 1.65 beda per thousand of population, a number which is far from adequate.
216. The eleven Government Hospitals comprise two large general bospitals, one mental hospital, two maternity hospitals, one large hospital for both long-term cases and infectious diseases, one isolation hospital, two prison hospitals, one small
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hospital for the treatment of venereal diseases and the St. John Hospital on Cheung Chau Island.
217. The two major general hospitals are the Queen Mary Hospital (598 beds) on the Island and Kowloon Hospital (247 beds) on the Mainland, The former is the largest and best- equipped hospital in the Colony at present and is the main teaching centre for medical students. The Kowloon Hospital is considerably smaller but is an extremely busy and efficient institution. These two hospitals, besides catering for all types of general work, deal with practically all the casualty cases (injuries, accidents, etc.) occurring in the Colony.
218. The Mental Hospital, with original provision for 140 beds only, is the sole institution of its kind in the Colony and houses never less than 300 patients at any one time, usually considerably more. It is antiquated and inconvenient and is to be replaced by a new and modern institution at Castle Peak- now partially completed.
219. The two maternity hospitals, both on the Island, differ dramatically. One, the Eastern Maternity Hospital, is a small but very popular and busy institution of 24 beds carrying on in premises which are a relic of former times. The other, the Tsan Yuk Hospital, has 200 beds and is most modern in both planning and equipment. It is the main training centre for medical students in obstetrics and gynaecology and is also a leading school for midwives.
220. The only other large Government hospital is at Laî Chi Kok, on the Mainland. It is an institution of 476 beds, accommodated in premises that have had to be adapted for the purpose. Of the beds, 202 are for tuberculosis cases, 94 for infectious discases, and the remainder for convalescent and long-term cases. This arrangement is possible only because the various buildings are well separated from one another. Since it is comparatively near to the Kowloon Hospital the availability of its convalescent beds allows many patients to be removed from the latter institution at an early stage in convalescence and thus facilitates a much quicker turn-over. The long-term cases are largely orthopaedic and come from both Queen Mary and Kowloon hospitals.
221. The Isolation Hospital (for infectious diseases) on the Island is housed in antiquated premises, once part of the original
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