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hospital that the drivers stop at public houses to refresh on the return
journey.* To obviate any necessity for their so doing they are now
regaled with bread and cheese and beer, while the ambulance is
undergoing disinfection within the hospital precincts. The Managers
are well aware of the objectionable practice alluded to, and
they have more than once, and quite lately again at my instance,
addressed the several Boards of Guardians on the subject, and done
everything in their power to put an end to it. But as their Clerk
stated, when replying to my representations, the drivers are not the
servants of the Board and they have no control over them. The
Managers would have this control if the ambulances were their
property and the drivers their servants. I communicated with
Sir E. Y. Henderson, the Chief Commissioner of Police, and a
parishioner living on the common hospital route, asking for the
assistance of the police in detecting and exposing the practice of
loitering. Sir Edmund expressed willingness that the police should
do what they could, but the local Superintendents to whom he
referred my letter, saw practical difficulties in the way, the chief
one being that the police had no means of identifying ambulances,
or of distinguishing them from other vehicles of similar build, many
ambulances having been constructed so as to resemble private
carriages. Nevertheless, the police subsequently did good-service
in other districts in reporting offenders.
Mr. Sweeting concludes his interesting report with some remarks
on the necessity of an isolation ward for "doubtful" cases, and for
cases other than small-pox, but too ill to be sent back, and therefore
of necessity admitted into the hospital. I cannot conclude
this notice of Mr. Sweeting's work without an acknowledgment of
his courteous readiness to afford me information on every occasion,
and the occasions on which I have troubled him in respect of
Kensington cases have not been few.
* The view has been entertained that the officers and servants of the hospital
may spread infection by their clothing. In a monthly report (No. 7, 1878, page
52) I quoted the rules framed for preventing such an occurrence. The Nurses,
whose duties are of a disagreeable, often loathsome, nature, get considerable indulgences
in the way of leave of absence. I ventured to suggest to the Chairman of
the Hospital Committee, whether some greater restriction might not be placed on
the leave of Nurses, who possibly would be willing to submit to longer periods of
confinement, if alternated with longer holidays, from time to time ?