SALARIES IN THE HOSPITALS.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—In your number of February 28th Mr. John Murray mentioned " the hospitals, and the vast amount of private means and personal, unpaid labour which has gone to found and maintain them." But these facts are not realized by the public.
This hospital, like most others, is supported entirely by voluntary contributions. The visiting staff consist of men of the highest professional standing, and the resident staff are younger men of sound training and good experience. Wit, one exception—myself, who have the princely salary of £200 a year—all of these gentlemen give their services for nothing. But, as man cannot live on air, it is obvious that in the long run some one pays—the middle•clase patient chiefly. The physician or surgeon of necessity charges his private patients a double fee in the morning in order that he. may attend the hospital sick gratis in the afternoon.
In the old days- this system worked well, for the class of hospital patient was poorly paid. Now, however, that manual labour is excessively well paid one finds the intolerable-anomaly, that people earning f5-210 a week are being treated gratni- tonsly by doctors? who often find it difficult to make ends meet. One outpatient admitted that he was earning too much to be included under the Insurance Act, yet he came- for free treat- ment. Many of the patients are much better off than those who give their services so freely. And do these patients ever consider it incumbent on them to give a donation to the hospital P The pence in the ward-box bear eloquent testimony that the average inpatient values a successful operation as much as he dose it good sermon—namely, at a penny or, if of generous disposition, at " tuppence." And these are the men and women who are treated gratuitously by the doctors and by the well-trained ladies of the nursing staff for a salary at which a drunken cook would turn up her nose—I am, Sir, he.,
S. OSCAR THOMAS,
Resident Medical Officer, Westminster Hospital. Broad Sanctuary, S.W. 1.
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