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The Gore Farm Hospitals, which in 1902 I recommended for appropriation to Sanatorium uses,
cannot compete with the King's Sanatorium in respect to beauty or suitability of construction, but,
with some necessary modifications and additions, of no very costly sort (already £320,000 has been
expended on site, buildings, etc.), they would provide all that is necessary. The site, larger than
that at Midhurst, open and beautiful in itself, is not less charming in its surroundings. The two
hospitals, Upper and Lower, are distinct, each being perfectly equipped in all respects and ready for
immediate use. The Upper hospital, constructed mainly on two floors, and of brickwork, under
the supervision of the late Sir Douglas Galton and the present Chairman of the Board (Sir Robert
Hensley), is the more important, and the most suitable for patients of the classes for whose service
the King's Sanatorium is designed. The Lower hospital, comprising single-floor wards, would
serve well tor the chargeable poor, to whom it would afford a welcome change from the wards of
London infirmaries or the more dreary surroundings of the workhouse. The wards of both
hospitals are well lighted and well ventilated. The Upper hospital provided accommodation for
over 1,000 small-pox patients, allowing to each but little less cubic space than will be given to the
patients in the King's Sanatorium. The same may be said of the Lower hospital, which, designed
for the reception of 850 small-pox patients, has never received one, and is never likely to be
required for small-pox isolation. The floor space in both hospitals is ample. The general lie of the
wards of the Upper hospital is north and south, that of the Lower hospital, north-east and southwest.
The Upper hospital stands on a plateau about 280 feet above ordnance datum, the elevation
of the site of the Lower hospital ranging between 100 and 200 feet. In connexion with both
hospitals there is abundant space for open-air shelters, gardens, graded walks, etc. The grounds
are well-wooded with chestnuts, oaks, silver birches, etc., and in the summer are carpeted with wild
flowers and beautified by shrubs. The locality is bracing, the air pure, the site dry, the chalk
coming to within a little distance of the surface over most of the estate. The water supply
is good and assured, the drainage satisfactory. The hospitals are well sheltered from north
and east winds; and it may be taken as reliable evidence of the healthiness of site and
buildings that in the year 1900, of 3,220 fever convalescents treated in the Upper hospital not one died.
Gore Farm is only two miles distant from Dartford; and, therefore, not too far from the
Metropolis—the Managers' motor ambulance could easily perform the double journey in one day—
but far enough away to be out of the London soot and fog-area, a matter of no little
consideration in dealing with a disease whose most fatal incidence is upon the respiratory system.
The alternative use of Gore Farm.—The Upper hospital when not required for small-pox
patients has, on occasion, been utilised for fever and diphtheria convalescents: but that was when
the accommodation for sufferers from these diseases was less than at present. The Managers now
have about 5,000 beds at their disposal in the Town hospitals, and the Northern Convalescent
Hospital at Winchmore Hill; a number which will be increased to nearly 6,300 on completion of
the new South-Eastern Hospital and the Southern Convalescent Hospital at Carshalton. That fine
site of 300 acres, moreover, would, if necessary, allow of the provision of a much larger number of
beds than the 800 now in course of being provided. It is, of course, possible, that even this large
total might not suffice for the needs of a great epidemic of scarlet-fever; it is rare, however, to
have two zymotic diseases epidemically prevalent at the same time; and as Gore Farm, intended
originally for convalescents from small-pox, has, in the abeyance of that disease, been used for
convalescent fever patients, so, in case of an emergency, the bulk of the beds at the Joyce Green
small-pox hospitals might be utilised for a like purpose should Gore Farm become a Sanatorium.
Are the Gore Farm Hospitals likely to be wanted for Small-pox?—I have been asked, What
about Small-pox, should there be a serious epidemic? This question, I think, need not trouble us,
for at Joyce Green, and lands adjacent to the pier and landing stage at Long Reach, there are
some 2,040 beds in three hospitals—provided at a cost of half a million sterling—and abundant
space for more—should more ever be needed—the estate comprising upwards of 300 acres. But never
since 1871, my first year of office, have there been so many as 2,000 patients under treatment at any
one time; and since 1886, when the plan was perfected of removing sufferers from Small-pox out of
London—initiated on my recommendation in 1881—the largest number of patients in hospital, at
any one time, was 1,600, in 1902, the next highest total being 593 in 1893. In this connection
it may be mentioned that the Managers, at a meeting held 27th June, 1903, adopted a recommendation
of the Hospitals Committee to the effect—
"That in view of the accommodation for Small-pox now possessed by the Board at Long
Reach and Joyce Green, the Gore Farm Hospital is no longer reckoned as a Small-pox Hospital."
The hospitals have in fact been disused since July, 1902, and it would be little less than
a scandal should they be permitted to lie idle much longer in the presence of the great need
for sanatoria.