Handbook of Birmingham / Prepared for the Members of the British Association, 1886

by British Association for the Advancement of Science

The great Triennial Musical Festivals, which in late years have ceased to be peculiar to Birmingham, were first established in connection with the Birmingham General Hospital. A Committee of the Governors is specially appointed to carry out these important undertakings, and they have spared no effort in procuring the finest music from the ablest Composers, rendered by the foremost artists of the time. The Elijah of Mendelssohn, the Eli and Naaman of Costa, the Light of the World of Sullivan, the St. Peter of Benedict, and the Redemption and Mors et Vita of Gounod, are some of the great works first produced at Birmingham under the management of the “Orchestral Committee,” whose aim has been on the one hand to obtain the perfection of music, and on the other to augment the income of the Hospital.

These Festivals have been held since the year 1768, and have resulted in a net profit to the Hospital of over £120,000. Since the year 1849, the gross receipts at any Festival have never been less than £10,000, and in one year they exceeded £16,000. In the year 1885, when the last Festival was held, the gross receipts were £13,715, and the net profit accruing to the Charity was £3,500.

The Queen’s Hospital.—This great Hospital is the second general Hospital in Birmingham. It was founded in the year 1840, in connection with the Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery; a School which in 1843 became incorporated under the name of the “Queen’s College.”

It has an unusually large acting Medical and Surgical Staff consisting of three Physicians, four Surgeons, one Physician for Out-patients, two casualty Surgeons, an Ophthalmic Surgeon, a Dental Surgeon, and an Obstetric Officer. It was established as a privileged Institution, but in the year 1875 the regulations then existing were changed, and it became a Free Hospital. From that time no privileges of any kind have been given to subscribers, and the suffering and deserving poor have been received and treated without any conditions or qualifications other than the urgency of their need of relief.

There is no doubt that since the Hospital became free, it has gained greatly in public confidence and popularity.

The In-patients treated in 1885 were 1,944, the Out-patients were 24,063. Some years ago it had a considerable endowment, but great enlargements and improvements of the Hospital were necessary, and were carried out a few years since at a cost of £26,000, of which sum £10,000 was taken from the endowment, and the remainder was raised by an active and intelligent Committee. The present endowment is only about £5,000. The annual income from all sources may be taken at £8,000, and the annual expenditure is about the same, though there is no doubt that with a larger income the Committee could provide in the present buildings a great increase in the number of beds, and so materially reduce the average cost per patient. The ordinary income of a medical charity is derived from subscriptions, donations, legacies, and the income resulting from investments. By the laws of many charities legacies are invested, and the income only of such investments is applied to the annual purposes of the charity.

The Queen’s Hospital has not been able to take this course; all legacies paid in any year being applied to the general purposes of the institution.

In the year 1885 the income of the Hospital was made up as follows:—From Subscriptions £2,648, from Donations £256, from Legacies £1,621, from Registration Fees £852, from Income of Investments £197; but these figures amount in all only to £5,574, and it has been stated that the income of the Hospital is about £8,000 a year. How then has the balance been obtained? In England there is no compulsory rate in aid of our charitable institutions. M. Guizot left it on record that when he first visited this country nothing surprised him more than the constant recurrence of the words that met him at every turn in London—“supported by voluntary contributions.” But the income arising from “ordinary sources” was rarely sufficient to enable Hospital managers to cope with the responsibilities thrown upon them without incurring constant deficits and sometimes financial disaster.

Twenty-five years ago some Birmingham men, amongst whom the late Rector of Birmingham (Dr. J. C. Miller) deserves most honourable mention, grappled with the difficulty. The various Clergy and Ministers of Religion, assisted by prominent lay townsmen, determined to organise a general Collection once a year in all the Churches and Chapels of the town and neighbourhood, for the benefit of the local Medical Charities. Thus originated “Hospital Sunday.” It was resolved that every third year the whole collection should go to the General Hospital, every third year to the Queen’s Hospital, and every third year that it should be divided among the smaller Medical Charities in certain proportions based upon the number of patients relieved.