Paying. Patients • Just over fifty years ago. Guy's Hospital
made its first attempt to eater for the patient who could pay something for ,private institutional treatment but. found the heavy fees, of the. privately-owned nursing home beyond him. This week the Prince of Wales opened a new wing, pro- vided by. the .generosity of .Lord Nuffield, and containing 20 new cubicles and 50 private rooms. The cubicles, at five guineas a week, arc reserved for those whose income does not exceed a specific figure : the rooms have no such restriction and the fees vary from seven to twelve guineas a week. Many profesSional and business men have experienced the lack of medical attention at moderate cost, particularly when surgical operations are required, and the demand for accommodation of this type still far exceeds the supply. When so much is done, and rightly ,done, for the wage-earner both by State.action and voluntary effort, it is satisfactory that another step should have been taken in the development of a ser- vice designed to benefit a section of the community so largely neglected by the State yet habitually generous in its. support of institutions like the hospitals.themselves.
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