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44
The recommendation, moved by the Chairman of the Committee (who is now Chairman of the
Board) was adopted.
The "twelvemonths" have expired, but reconsideration of the question of the use to which
the hospital should be put has not been resumed. Possibly it may be by the new Board.
Description of the Hospital.—It may not be out of place here to say a few words in regard to
the site and construction of the hospital, which is a fine structure ; and should be, indeed, seeing that
it has already cost nearly a quarter of a million, and that when equipped for use each of its 800
beds will have entailed an outlay not far short of £375.* The dry and well-drained site is worthy
of such buildings ; " the land lies high, a large portion of it being upwards of 300 feet above ordnance
datum ; the soil is chalk with a gravel formation, and the area is about 135½ acres "; about 90 acres
being enclosed within a fence, and the remainder let on an agreement terminable at short notice.
Any amount of additional land is available should it be needed for an " after- care farm colony." The
air on those Surrey hills is delightful and invigorating; the prospect extensive and beautiful. The
unit of construction is a single storey double cottage, resembling two capital letters "L" joined
together horizontally; the upright stroke representing (for each half cottage) the dormitory; the
horizontal stroke the day-room. Each half of the cottage is constructed for 15 patients, and is
fitted with all requisite administrative conveniences,—an airing court (with a southern aspect, 85 feet
by 60 feet) lying between the two dormitories. Of these double cottages there are twenty-four,
arranged (en echelon) in three groups, of four on either side of the central roadway—a " cottage staff
block " being attached to each group. By reason of this arrangement sunlight falls on every building
from sunrise to sunset; no shadow being cast by any one building to the detriment of any other. A
space of about 55 feet separates the angle of each cottage, laterally, from the nearest point of the
adjacent one—to the right or to the left, as the case may be ; and there is a space of about 250 feet
between the central group of four cottages, and the adjacent group, in front and rear. At the
southern and highest parts of the site, there are two isolation blocks, containing several wards of
varying dimensions; but which are not likely to be required for isolation, should the hospital be
used as a sanatorium. The walls of each cottage are finished with a Keene's cement dado, the
upper part being painted or distempered; all corners are rounded off; the flooring is of maple,
stained and polished—that of the isolation blocks being polished teak; the ceilings are plastered.
Each dormitory is 58-ft. x 20-ft, x 12-ft., giving 928 cubic feet of space per patient; the day room,
33-ft. x 22-ft. x 12-ft., allows nearly 600 cubic feet per patient. The lighting, ventilation, and heating
arrangements are all that could be desired. Every requisite has been provided; electric light
everywhere, sewerage, water supply, etc. The land rises gradually from the entrance lodge at the
north end (290 feet above ordnance datum) to the isolation blocks on a plateau 325 feet above that
level. The roadways are made, but the very ample spaces between the various buildings have not
been laid out, and this work, alone, would occupy many patients for months. The hospital having
been designed for fever and diphtheria convalescents, mostly children, no common dining hall has
been provided—a fact which may be not without influence in determining the particular class of
patients to be admitted, should it be decided to use it as a sanatorium. There is, however, abundant
space for any necessary additions to the existing buildings. Accommodation has been
provided for a resident staff of 213 persons + ; and for 800 patients, including 720 in the cottages
(a number that might be raised to 768 by utilising available rooms in the administrative section of
the cottages), irrespective of 80 in the isolation blocks.
As already stated, it is the dreaded "heavy outlay,"J the "increased expenditure," that would
be involved, were the Local Government Board to sanction the establishment of sanatoria, that
blocks the way to the realization of our desires. An interesting question therefore suggests itself,
viz.—Whether, as in the case of the Benenden Sanatorium, the hospital might not be made self-
* At Michaelmas, 1906, the amount borrowed totalled £245,195 ; the amount sanctioned by the Local Governmen
Board being £299,664 (Annual Report of the Asylums Board, for 1906.)
flncluding Medical Superintendent and four Assistant Medical Officers, Matron, assistant matron, six sub-matrons,
housekeeper, 48 "house mothers" (one for each half-cottage), night superintendent, 18 night assistants, 33 male officers
and servants, 24 nurses and superior servants, steward, assistant steward, engineer and gate porter. A smaller staff would
suffice for a Sanatorium (Vide page 54).
‡ It is open to question whether the " outlay " would be so great as expected. Suppose my suggestion to utilize the
Southern Hospital as a sanatorium were adopted, the expense there need not be greater relatively than that at Frimley Sanatorium
(vide page 54). The average stay of patients at Frimley is about six months; the average weekly cost per patient twentyseven
shillings. On this basis should the Southern Hospital deal with 2,000 cases yearly, the approximate cost would be
£56,000—less than the amount of one third of a penny in the £ of Metropolitan rateable value. Assuming the results of
treatment to be comparable to those attained at Frimley, the benefit of the hospital to the community, immediately by its
operations, and indirectly as an object lesson, and as a good example sure to be followed, would be great and undeniable. So
far indeed from increasing the burden to the rates (for consumptive patients in Poor Law Infirmaries must cost nearly as much
as patients at Frimley) there is indeed reason for believing that, instead of imposing on the ratepayers any additional burden,
the carrying out by the Managers of the " proposal " (for giving effect to which a single section Act might suffice) would
prove, in the long run, a strictly economical procedure ; leading, as it should, to the saving of many lives, and the restoration
to usefulness of many consumptives who, under existing conditions, constitute a serious burden to the rates—for they languish
and die, leaving, often, destitute widows and orphans to be brought up, at the public charge, in the surroundings of the
workhouse, or, at the best, in the suburban schools in which, happily, though at great cost, "pauper" children are now
usually educated and trained to useful occupations.