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wards, on account of the great difficulties of diagnosis in many fever cases, and
the co-existence of two or more infectious diseases in the same patient; and in
my report for 1905 I gave details of the excellent results that had been obtained
at the Pasteur Hospital, Paris, in which the cubicle system has been adopted.
I am, therefore, very pleased to report that the Metropolitan Asylums Board has
had two of the large wards at the South Western Hospital converted into cubicle
wards, and I gladly availed myself of the kind invitation of the Chairman of the
Board to inspect these.
The following are the details supplied by the Medical Superintendent,
Dr. Caiger.
South Western Fever Hospital, Stockwelt.—Cubicle Wards.
The conversion of two large wards into cubicles at the South Western
Hospital is designed to supplement the existing isolation accommodation.
Each ward, which originally contained 18 beds, is divided by glass partitions
framed in iron, and reaching to a height of 7 feet above the floor level, into 16
cubicles.
The proportion of total floor space per bed is 175 square feet, and of this
about 120 square feet are enclosed within the cubicle.
The ward is ventilated as a whole by means of large fanlights placed above
the windows, and the partitions are so disposed as to provide each cubicle with a
separate window.
Every cubicle is furnished with a fixed basin, the waste pipe from which
is carried through the wall, and over it is fixed a tepid spray worked by a pedal
action.
Separate overalls are hung in each of the cubicles which are worn by the
medical and nursing staff when attending to that particular patient; while a
sterilised towel hung in proximity to the spray affords convenient opportunity
for ablution of the hands immediately before leaving the cubicle.
A bathroom attached to each of the wards is furnished with a portable
enamelled iron bath, which can easily be run into the cubicles, while a gas heated
copper steriliser, furnished with a hot water supply and a controllable waste,
provides facilities for sterilising every article which has been used for the patient's
treatment.
In the scullery attached to the ward is a second steriliser, of larger size, for
the disinfection of the plates, mugs, knives, forks, and spoons, etc., after they
have been removed from the cubicles.