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60
Hospital accommodation in the City of Westminster is ample for the
needs of its citizens. It must be remembered, however, that these
voluntary hospitals serve a vastly greater population than that of Westminster
and it may, and does happen, that Westminster people have to
go further afield to seek treatment. This may be due to predilection on
the part of the doctor attending or the wishes of the patient. Generations
of some families have always been treated, say, at St. Thomas' Hospital,
and the tradition is continued. There was a real difficulty concerning
maternity hospital accommodation for Westminster women which has
been solved, It frequently happened that they had, owing to the beds
being filled by women from other districts, to trudge round hospitals in
other areas seeking admission. This need has been adequately met by the
arrangement for maternity beds which the Council has made with Westminster
Hospital and is referred to later in this report.
Co-operation between the voluntary hospitals and the Health Services
of the Council is satisfactory in every respect. The sphere of such cooperation
is concerned mainly with the Tuberculosis and Maternity and
Child Welfare Services to which reference is made later.
The L.C.C. Hospital, St. Stephen's, in Fulham Road (369 beds) fulfils
adequately the functions of asylum for the chronic sick and also an overflow
reservoir of beds for acute cases living in the City but who cannot be
accommodated in the voluntary hospitals. While nothing but praise can
be offered as to medical, surgical and nursing skill practised at this
hospital, the building itself offers suggestions for improvement. It is
too far away for the resident population to reap the fullest advantage
in dealing with acute cases. The internal structure of the building with
its lofty blocks, each provided with a steep staircase, is not conducive to
easy administration and must cause waste of energy and time. It would
appear that in view of the greatly increasing number of acute and
major surgical cases being admitted in recent years, the resident
medical staff requires to be reinforced. It is also doubtful whether the
laboratory and radiological facilities are now adequate according to
modern standards. If anaesthetics are still administered by the resident
staff then it must be obvious that in a hospital of 369 beds, four resident
doctors, apart from the Medical Superintendent, whose time is necessarily
much taken up with administration, must be hard put to it to overtake
so great a mass of clinical work. (The City Council has no concern with
the hospital provision of the L.C.C. and this comment is made in accordance
with the request expressed in paragraph 9 of Appendix I of the Ministry
of Health Circular 1119.)