10 JANUARY 1936, Page 3

A Hospital City Fas est et ab hoste doceri,' much

more ab amico, and there is something that strikes the imagination vividly in the account given in Wednesday's Daily Telegraph of the £2,000,000 hospital city at present under construction in the country near Stockholm. The city is to contain, apart from the general hospital with all the usual appur- tenances, a children's hospital, psychiatry and rheumatism clinics, swimming pools and tennis-courts, church and concert halls, and of course homes for professors, students and nurses. The world has been scoured by Swedish architects for the latest improvements in hospital con- struction adopted in different countries, including Britain, France, the United States and Germany, and the whole enterprise is being carried out by the Government. The hospital city when completed will, no doubt, be unique. But need it remain so ? This clearly is the right way to deal with illness, and while it is not indicated how far the new institution will depend on paying patients, there appears to be no reason why the annual charge on such an enterprise, if carried out from public funds, should be considerable. Money spent in this way would be- money saved in other directions. An L.C.C. deputation might with advantage visit Stockholm.