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The ground alleged for the proposed new departure, was the risk of interruption to the river
ambulance service by fog, frost, etc., in view of which the Committee thought "no time should be
lost in considering and settling how arrangements could be made whereby, at a few hours' notice,
road transit might be set up and worked efficiently to whatever extent necessary." They stated
that, if no better arrangement could be made than to carry no more than two patients in one
ambulance, the number of vehicles, horses, drivers, and nurses required would be "enormous," to
remove, say, 100 patients a day, from their homes to the Gore Farm Small-pox Hospital at
Darenth.
In due course the Committee brought up a report recommending the purchase, for the sum
of £6,000, of 13¼ acres of land on the Bexley Road, near Blendon, as a site for the proposed
half-way establishment, which they said would necessarily be "on a considerable scale." The
proposals of the Committee were dealt with in my monthly reports,* one of which was referred to
the Public Health Committee, who presented a special report† to the Council adverse to the
adoption of the scheme, "without further consideration and proved necessity." Ultimately the
Managers declined to adopt the recommendation of the Ambulance Committee; but they decided
to seek, and they obtained, the sanction of the Local Government Board to the purchase of a motor
ambulance which would be capable of making the journey, to and fro, between the London hospitals
and Gore Farm in one day; whereas the Committee had stated that horse ambulances could not
make the double journey in one day; so that if horse traction were employed, a large and costly
plant and staff would be required. The motor ambulance has been supplied, but its services have
not hitherto been required for transport of patients between London and Gore Farm, or elsewhere,
without London.
It was understood that the views of the Ambulance Committee not having been approved by
the Managers, the last had been heard of the proposed half-way establishment. But the matter was
revived last year in a report of the Committee on "Proposed Establishment of resting-place midway
between London and Dartford," consequent on the agent of the owner of the land having re-opened
negotiations. The land for which £6,000 (subsequently reduced to £5,000) was asked in 1902, was
offered at about £240 per acre, a total of £3,180 for the 13¼ acres. The Committee in the report adverted
to, stated that the primary object they had in view in recommending (in 1902) the purchase of the
land was its use in connection with the road transport of small-pox cases. Last year they said
there were "other reasons why a midway resting-place should be provided" ; viz., the convenience
of convalescing fever and diphtheria patients in transit to Gore Farm Hospital, and the need
of a break in the journey of over 20 miles for refreshment of the patients, mostly young children
unaccustomed to long journeys. "Even should the journeys be made by motor vehicles instead of
horse traction," the Committee considered "that the accommodation should be provided." They
were of opinion, however, that" the only buildings required would be a few stalls for horses, sheds
under which two or three omnibuses could be drawn up, rooms for lavatory conveniences for the
use of patients, and a caretaker's lodge with a bedroom for one assistantbuildings which might
be "constructed of corrugated iron with fire-proof linings at a cost not exceeding £1,200." Such
an an ount of accommodation, it might have been thought, could be provided on the odd quarter
of an acre: how the Committee proposed to utilise the remaining 13 acres was not stated.
Assuming that the journey by motor carriage could be made in from two to three hours,
there did not appear to be any great need for the proposed half-way establishment; though to the
provision of it on the modest scale suggested, and on a merely sufficient site, there would seem to
be no serious objection. But for small-pox patients it is not probable that such a station will ever
be needed, as these cases, doubtless, will be treated henceforth in the vicinity of the river at Long
Reach and Joyce Green, where ample accommodation for the needs of the Metropolis has been
provided.
Gore Farm Hospitals had been used in the past as convalescent hospitals for fever and
diphtheria, and the Committee assumed that they might be so used again; although it is to be
hoped that the Northern Convalescent Hospital, at Winchmore Hill (650 beds), and the Southern
Hospital (800 beds), now being erected at Carshalton, will suffice for these classes of patients.
In the result the Managers decided not to adopt the recommendation of the Committee with
respect to the proposed " half-way house."
*No. 3 Report, March 29, 1902 (page 61), "Ambulance Service No. 6, June 19 (page 108), and No. 7, July 17 (page 125),
"Transport of Patients," etc.
† The Report of the Public Health Committee was published in No. 7 Report, 1902, page 127.