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attendance, and the doctor Nas not to leave the hospital until all duties
had been completed . Professional duties such as bleeding, cupping ,
clrcssing, and bandaging of wounds or ulcers 'lere to be carried out only by
the Medical Officer himself or the Assistant Hous e Surgeon , if there were
one.
Should a patient be transferred to another hospital or to an invalid
station, an accurate and minut e statement of his case, period of illness ,
and previous treatment was to be sent for the information of the edical
Officer there , any neglect of this duty to be reported by the latter person
to the Principal Medical Officer immediately. On arrival at the hospi ta J ,
a new patient was first to be made perfectly clean with warm water and soap ,
his hair combed and cut if necessary, and a well aired shirt put on him .
He was to be given a night cap and a pair of list slippers , and afterwards
taken to the correct ward where he was to be provided with a hospital dress .
At certain hospitals such as Hobart Town , Launceston, New Norfolk and
Port Arthur , patients were to be classified into two groups , medical and
surgical ;
in each of these groups patients were to be placed side by side
if there Nas no specific ward allotted to their complaint .
to have its own bedding, dressings and utensils .
Each ward was
Only the Senior Medical
Officer in a hospital could order the removal of a patient from one ward to
another.
Each patient was to have a ticket with his name , disease and
date of admission to the hospital written on it and hung over his bed-head .
Patients suffering from infectious diseases as fevers , fluxes, smallpox and
the like were to be kept separate ;
before any of their bedding could be
used again , it had to be steeped frequently in water, thoroughly aired and
exposed to the air, and washed with soap and water;
bed straw was to be
burnt and the bedsteads or places where the patients lay thorough ly scoureo
with soap and hot 'later.
Men with opthalmia and those with nitch" were
always , if possible , to be placed in a separate ward .
Shou ld a station be
.
sick ly, or any bad infe ctious disease appear, or if opthalmia be prevalent ,
the Medical Officer was immediately to report the same to the Principal
Medical Officer, stating , in the case of a contagious diseas e, how it was
introduced, whether epidemic, whether common in the neighbourhood, or
whether originating '"ith the convicts either from severe duty , long
exposure to cold and fatigue , insufficient clothing , bad weather or foul
noxious air in unventilated and crowded barracks .
medical treatment being undertaken was also to be given .
A full description of
Except in an
urgent case, no major operation was to be performed without previous
consultation with the Principal Medical Officer.
Wards in the hospital
were never to be crowded, a space of five feet at least being al lowed for
each bed;
ventilation was to be carefully regulated according to the
diseases of the patients ;
draughts and currents of air were to be