View report page

93
of the Hospital at Fulham on the health of the
surrounding neighbourhood—an enquiry which
should embrace not only the incidence of small
pox in Camberwell, but that also in Deptford and
Greenwich, and its relation to the Hospital which
is surrounded on all sides by these districts. It is
needless to say that we were listened to very
courteously and patiently. And it is important to
point out that not long afterwards a Royal Commission
was appointed to enquire into the whole
subject of Small Pox Hospitals in the Metropolis,
to report and to advise. This Commission which
has been now some months at work has not yet
concluded its labours.
Pending their report, I do not deem it advisable
to express any opinions of my own as to what steps,
if any, should be taken to minimise the danger
due to the accumulation of small pox patients in
large hospitals, or to deal with greater success
than we are now doing with the preventive treatment
of the disease; for it seems probable that
any opinions I may have formed will be largely
modified by the important information which will
surely have been elicited by their enquiries.