On provident dispensaries as a means for promoting the public health / by James Christie.

  • James Christie
Date:
[1880?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On provident dispensaries as a means for promoting the public health / by James Christie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    IS PMUmphiMi SooiM^ of (ilmgrnt. |irivaie ohirity, omhtiBg midwifery cases, was 72 per 1,000 of pofMlation, ak compartNl with 200 in Kilinbui-gh, aiid 236 i» Liveri --...cv thai period the operations of the Glasgow Medical MissioD have beeu extended, and the public dispeusar}' at Andenou's College has beeu opened, the latter aim) supplying medicines gratia In this enumenition 1 lm\e not taken int*) account the special hospitals anil dis)tcn8aries for diseases of the «ye, ear, and throat I need scarcely mention that the public dMftenamaB are free to all comers, without lines from sub- ■mbeiv; bat that, for admission to tlie hospitals, tsubacribere' ^ lines are neoeaaary. For the London diK^>cnsaries, governors' letters aeem to be necessary, and medicines are given ; whereas, in Glasgow, medicines are only given in exceptional cases, and the dispensaries are often to all, without ({uestions being put as to tlie circumataiMMi of the |>atient Although 39,000 patients treated, in part at least, by private charity looks a large number, 1 do not think that the private charities of this city are abunet], or titki n advantag<? of by the public to any great extent for the purpose of avoiding payment for what they are able to pay. Speaking from niy own ex|)erirno(* as one of the dispensary surgtxjnH of the Western Infir- mary, 1 have much pleasure in Rtating that that medical cljarity is not abused, but that, on the contniry, it is taken advantjige of by the rery class for whom it is int<'ndc<l ; and 1 Inilieve that the dispensary surgeons of the Koyal Inlirmary can bear testimony to the same effect. A large numWr of the cases re^juire minor o|Kjra- tions, an<l subsequent dressings ; while a consideraVile number are, strictly sjwaking, consultation cases, the more important of which are recommended for hospital treatment. Many of these patients come from considerable distances for professional advice, and they do so frequently on the recommendation of their regular medical •tiendants. Oases of peculiar interest are referred to the regular hospital surgeons, so that, while primary attention is attached to the interests of the patients, such selected cases add to the importance of the hospitals as schools for clinical instruction. In so far as I have Wn able to observe, then- is nothing whatever of a pauperising tendency in the outdoor ]»atient department of the hospital dispensaries ; and I do not think that there is any gi ound for complaint, on the part of medical practitionci-s, as to the free dispensary system, as carried out in Glasgow, intt^rfering with professional interests. Indeed, I may state that I have never heard of any such c<MDplaint from medical practitioner, so that the Pro-
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