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17
TO THE METROPOLITAN ASYLUM DISTRICT BOARD.
The Memorial of the Board of Works for the Limehouse District
Sheweth—
That your Memorialists are the Sanitary Authority for the Limehouse District,
which comprises the Parish of Limehouse, the Hamlet of Ratcliffe, and the Parishes
of Shad well and Wapping, and under certain circumstances such Authority has
power to remove persons suffering from contagious disease to Hospital.
That in the winter of 1876.77, and again in the winter of 1877.78, there were a
considerable number of Small Pox cases in your Memorialists' district, and most of
the Pauper cases were removed to the Hospitals belonging to your Board.
That during the Epidemics some persons who were not Paupers fell victims to
the disease, and much danger resulted to other persons from their non-removal to
Hospital.
That although the Sanitary Act of 1866 confers powers upon the Sanitary
Authorities to provide Hospital accommodation for Non-Pauper cases, many almost
insurmountable obstacles present themselves to such a provision being made, the
principal being the enormous expense, and the serious result to many localities if
all the Sanitary Authorities of the Metropolis purchased sites and erected Hospitals
for their respective districts, also the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of procuring
suitable sites for 39 Hospitals, it being useless to hope for anything like joint action
of the several Sanitary Authorities, or of any amalgamation of districts, considering
the differences of opinion which exist on the matter.
That if each of the Sanitary Authorities of the 39 several districts were to build a
Hospital of its own, such Hospital might not be required perhaps for years together,
and although removable Non-Pauper cases are comparatively-few, the Buildings and
a Staff must be kept up with all appliances, necessitating a very large annual
expenditure for each district, without any corresponding benefit or use.
That in the winter of 1876.77 your Memorialists endeavoured to provide an
Hospital by hiring a Building at Bromley belonging to the Guardians of the Stepney
Union, but in this they failed.
That your Memorialists, having given the matter full consideration, have come to
the conclusion that the most practicable way of overcoming the difficulty in providing
Hospital accommodation for Non.Pauper cases in each district, would be for the
Metropolitan Asylums District Board, who already have the necessary Staff and
appliances, to make arrangements, upon the request of the Sanitary Authorities, to
receive any person not in receipt of Parish relief whom the Sanitary Authorities
might require to have removed to Hospital, and that the Asylums Board should provide
a separate Department for the accommodation of such cases, so that they could
be kept distinct from Pauper Patients.
That the Sanitary Authorities should pay to your Board for the accommodation
provided for Non-Pauper cases by an annual payment, whether such accommodation
is required or not, or by a fixed sum for each Patient sent.
Your Memorialists trust that your Board will agree with them as to the importance
of the subject, and that upon consideration your Board may determine that the views
of your Memorialists should be carried into effect.
The Seal of the Board of Works for the Limehouse
District, affixed in the presence of
(Signed) THOS. W. RATCLIFFE, Clerk to the Board.