The Committee appointed to inquire into and report upon the
circumstances of the recent difficulties in Guy's Hospital have issued a very moderate Report, which is evidently intended as an eireaim, between the contending parties ; and we trust it may be so received, though Dr. Wilks's violent letter in yes- terday's Times does not look much like it, so far as regards the Medical Staff. Dr. Wilks denounces the report, and -especially denounces the statement of the Committee that they see no "just ground for calling upon the Matron to abandon the duties of a post which she did not seek, but which she was specially invited to undertake." Dr. Wilks does not quote the reason for this decision. The Committee say, " From the evidence of the Sisters, it appears that in about two-thirds of the wards there is now no dissatis- faction, and in many there is reason to believe that there is con- siderable improvement. There is no valid reason for believing that in any case is interference with the orders of the medical staff either sanctioned or connived at by the Matron." This being so, and the Governors being just men who see how well Miss Burt is doing her work, of course they could not have recommended her removal, as a mere sacrifice to the offended dignity of the doctors. The Committee do, however, recommend some very important administrative improvements, which will have the practical effect of giving the medical staff a veto on any in- judicious changes that may be proposed, and a recognised in- fluence over;the whole work of administration ; and with these proposals the medical staff will do well to close. If they con- tinue the role of irreconcilables, they may ruin a great medical school, but they will not persuade the public that disinterested zeal for the art of healing has been their only actuating motive.
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