“Hospital Sunday” became immensely popular, and the example set by Birmingham was imitated by the metropolis and by the larger towns and cities of England. Since its establishment up to last year the medical charities of Birmingham have received from the Hospital Sunday Fund the enormous subsidy of £124,430.
From this source the Queen’s Hospital has received, up to the year 1884, £42,188; its triennial collection amounted to £4,356 in 1881, and to £4,181 in 1884. But the year 1873 witnessed a new departure. It was felt that it was not enough to make collections only from the habitual frequenters of churches and chapels, most of whom might be assumed to be regular subscribers to the various charities or donors to their funds. It was felt too that the great body of the artisan population were able and willing to do something for the support of the great institutions founded almost wholly for their benefit; and thus “Hospital Saturday” became a friendly but formidable rival to “Hospital Sunday.” Once a year collections are made in all the manufactories and large workshops in the town and district, and up to, and including the year 1885, the hospitals have been subsidised from this welcome source to the extent of £46,800. Not only so, but these annual collections are steadily growing in amount, to the great credit of the industrial population and to the lasting benefit of the charities of the town.
It is interesting to note the increasing annual amount the Queen’s Hospital has thus received. In the year 1880 it was £670; in 1881, £711; in 1882, £852; in 1883, £931; in 1884, £1,056; in 1885, £1,135, and the accounts for the present year shew a large increase on any figures hitherto recorded.
The Birmingham General Dispensary.—This Institution is the oldest medical charity in Birmingham except the General Hospital. It was founded in 1794, and has deservedly enjoyed a very large share of public confidence. It is a strictly privileged institution. Every subscriber has so many tickets for his subscription, and has also the power of procuring supernumerary tickets. There are of course no beds, all patients being attended at their own homes. Accidents or urgent cases, such as sometimes put great pressure upon the resources of a general hospital, are here extremely rare. There is, therefore, no debt. The services of the medical staff can be purchased at a rate sufficient to cover the cost. Consequently the subscription list has always been large, the finances invariably prosperous, the revenue always in excess of the expenditure. So great has been the success of this institution, that the managers sometimes hardly know what to do with their money.
The income for the year 1885 from all sources was considerably in excess of £6,000. The whole expenditure was under £5,000, and the managers were able out of the income of the year to put by £1,500. The income from investments alone was £608. There was a considerable sum on deposit, and a large credit balance at the Bank. There is a central dispensary in Union Street, and branches at Camp Hill, Aston, and Ladywood, all with Resident Surgeons attached.
In former days it had a large midwifery and vaccination department, but the former was abandoned in 1869 and the latter in 1870. The dispensary, therefore, now addresses itself only to the ordinary medical treatment of the sick poor. All the medical officers, including the consulting officers, are paid for their services. The patients who, in 1871, numbered 10,570, had increased in 1885 to 21,888.
The Orthopædic and Spinal Hospital.—This small but useful institution has existed since the year 1817. It has three Acting-Surgeons, and one Assistant Surgeon. The Surgeons attend daily and give gratuitous advice to the deformed poor. Ordinary cases are admitted without letters of recommendation, but in the numerous cases where supports or instruments are required, subscribers’ tickets are necessary to cover the cost. The instruments supplied in 1885 cost upwards of £500. The new cases in that year were 1,654, the attendances 7,439. The total expenditure was about £1,400.
The Eye Hospital.—The Birmingham and Midland Eye Hospital is one of the best special Hospitals in the provinces. It has not only been of incalculable service to the poor of the town and neighbourhood, but it has founded an important school of ophthalmic science in the Midland district. Diseases of the eye cannot be adequately dealt with at general hospitals. Where the delicacies and difficulties of any disorder are such as to require minute manipulative skill and practitioners of great experience, a special Institution is imperatively necessary. This Hospital has had a really splendid career. It was founded in 1824, and commenced its operations in a humble manner in Cannon Street. It then migrated into improved premises in Steelhouse Lane. In 1861 it found a third home in Temple Row, and in 1884 a new Hospital was erected and opened in Church Street capable of accommodating 70 beds.
The acting Medical Officers of the Institution (exclusive of House or Resident Surgeons) are by the laws to consist of not less than four and not more than six Honorary Surgeons, so that ample provision is made to secure the adequate surgical treatment of the present patients and of any probable increase in their number.