The Report of the South African Hospitals Commission was issued
on Tuesday. The Commissioners record their judgment that, reviewing the campaign as a whole, it can- not be said that the medical or hospital arrangements have broken down, that there has been any scandal in the treat- ment of sick or wounded, or any general or widespread neglect of patients or indifference to their sufferings. At the same time, they admit the existence of serious evils,—notably. the understaffing of the Army Medical Corps before the war, in spite of the representations of the Director-General and his staff; the inefficiency of a small minority of Army doctors; the dishonesty of orderlies; and the vexatious character of the military rules enforced in hospital. Of the specific sug- gestions for the consideration of a Committee of experts, whose speedy appointment they recommend, the most im- portant are "the attraction of a regular supply of officers of good professional attainments, and the improvement of their position lby the allowance of sufficient holidays by provisions for scientific study, and by promotion by merit " ; the employment of more nurses for fixed hospitals; the appointment of sanitary officers ; and the improvement of ambulance waggons and hospital tents.
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