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92
SECTION VIII.
WORK OF THE BUOROUGH HOSPITAL
The total nominal accommodation at the Borough Hospital is
170 beds, in addition to which there are five shelters.
During the latter period of the year the accommodation at the
Hospital was severely taxed. 1 he figures given below demonstrate the
continuous heavy use to which the Wards were put. The total
number of cases (1313) admitted during the year is the highest on
record. It should be remembered that the total figures at any time
alone do not indicate truly the pressure upon the accommodation as
not infrequently it is found that a rush in one disease causes great
pressure for some months on the wards which can be allocated to the
treatment of that disease while the other wards may be running at quite
ordinary pressure. In the beginning and latter portion of the year all
the wards in the Hospital were very much overcrowded, and in the last
month and a half of 1921 many cases of infectious disease had to be left
in their homes, for which beds could not be provided in the Hospital at
all. Not only is the pressure felt severely upon the patient beds but
the overcrowding of the wards makes the work excessively hard upon
nursing and domestic staff, in spite of the fact that the sleeping accommodation
for the nurses has been used to its utmost limit. Unquestionably,
in part at least, due to this very heavy work, no fewer
than 15 cases of scarlet fever and diphtheria alone occurred amongst the
nursing staff during the year—a very heavy incidence. The need
for a properly planned and executed extension of the Hospital is
pressing, and should be taken in hand as soon as the general economic
circumstances make it possible. The re habilitation of an old ward—
Block G—and the addition of a converted army hut have already been
referred to.

During 1921 the average daily number of cases under treatment
amounted to 145.0 as compared with 156.0 of the previous year.