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open wounds. If you send that man away with his septicemia you are doing the Colony more good than by taking him into that ward where you would be endangering the lives of the other patients.
You do not think inspection by the Colonial Surgeon would be sufficient ?—I do not think so.
In regard to sanitary requirements, do you not think it is sufficient that the hospital should comply with the sanitary regulations of the Colony ?—The Hospital is not a house. There are no regulations for a hospital which really requires extra
sanitary attention.
Mr. WHITEHEAD-Are there any inspections of the Tung Wa Hospital by officers of the Sanitary Board from time to time ?--I do not know.
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THE PRESIDENT--The Tung Wa Hospital is subject to the same sanitary regula- tions as any other building in Hongkong.
Dr. Ho KAI-- What you want is a European doctor as resident physician ?--As a sort of superintendent of the Hospital.
Mr. WHITEHEAD-Would it be possible to get one European doctor to undertake the duty of superintendent and be there all day long ?--There is no necessity to be there all day long.
How many hours per day do you think would be requisite ?-He would require to be there two to three hours in the morning. It depends on the amount of work he is to get through. He would give general directions for the conduct of the Hospital. Then he would require to be there an hour in the afternoon and make occasional visits at night to see that everything was being carried out according to his directions.
Dr. Ho KAI-Should he not see all cases after they come in ?-They are all seen now by the Colonial Surgeon in the receiving ward.
I mean all day long ?--We are not all day long on duty at the Government Civil Hospital. The patients might be kept in the receiving ward until they are seen by the doctor.
But you have European wardmasters at the Government Civil Hospital ?--Yes.
Mr. THOMSON-Would you recommend that this superintendent ought to have power to interfere in the treatment?--He certainly ought to have power to interfere in a hospital in a British Colony where malprazis goes on.
THE PRESIDENT-What do you mean by that?—If surgical treatment went on at Home such as may be seen at the Tung Wa Hospital the doctor would be liable to be sued for damages every day of the week.. It is a disgrace to the Colony.
Dr. Ho KAI-I doubt whether you could sue for damages in England.—It has been done several times and more often in America.
THE PRESIDENT-Can you tell me any part of the world where a man is not allowed to be treated as he likes?—All over England a man with an infectious disease is required to go to the hospital if he cannot be properly segregated elsewhere.
But exclusive of infectious diseases ?-Well, septicemia is an infectious disease so far as the hospital is concerned. You have a list in the bye-laws published by the Sanitary Board of cases which must be treated by removal to a special hospital, but these bye-laws were made for the streets and for the houses. If bye-laws are going to be made to apply to the hospitals the list of diseases will require to be enlarged.
Mr. THOMSON That is what your recommendation amounts to, that septicemia is an infectious disease?—Yes; I know the extraordinary difficulty of getting up a new hospital and getting it conducted on economical fines to start with. It is a Utopian
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