The work of extension was at first difficult, but soon became quite simple because a considerable number of officers and men became experienced in the methods of effecting desirable results, and in the art of adapting means in sight to the end desired.
The Conversion of the Auxiliary Hospitals into Independent Commands
Finally it became obvious that the mechanism was becoming too complicated, i.e. that the administration of all these hospitals from the Palace Hotel, and the keeping of the records at the Palace Hotel, had become impossible. It was accordingly decided to separate them and make them independent commands. This arrangement was completed about the middle of August, but it involved a fresh crop of difficulties. It was quite necessary that some one should meet the trains and allot the patients to the various hospitals. That was a comparatively simple matter. It was necessary that the hospitals should be properly staffed, and that those who administered them should receive proper rank, in other words that there should be a definite establishment. This necessitated a reference to the Australian Government, and consequently difficulties and delays.
The valuable and almost essential part played by the Australian Branch British Red Cross, in effecting the expansion and in preventing a disaster, will be referred to in the chapter on the Red Cross.
The following table indicates the nature of the increasing demand on the hospital accommodation:
Growth of the Hospital (First Australian General)
Hospital opened on January 28
| Venereal and | |||
| Infectious Cases | |||
| Feb. 13 | 186 | cases | 358 cases |
| Feb. 15 | 200 | cases (39 Ophthalmic and aural cases) | 351 " |
| Feb. 25 | 324 | cases (including 51 special cases) | 422 " |
| March 1 | 477 | cases, 46 special cases | 404 " |
| March 15 | 532 | " 57 " " | 476 " |
| April 1 | 596 | " 64 " " | 283 " |
| April 15 | 567 | " 52 " " | 429 " |
| April 28 | 479 | " 57 " " | 433 " |
| April 29 | 631 | " 57 " " | 478 " |
| April 30 | 1,082 | " 49 " " | 469 " |
| May 1 | 1,324 | (286 patients discharged) | 456 " |
| May 2 | 1,465 | (213 patients discharged) | 462 " |
| May 3 | 1,492 | 453 " | |
| Patients admitted to July 31, 1915 | 13,325 | ||
| Deaths | 102 | = 0·76 per cent. | |
Largest number of patients admitted on any one day (June 8, 1915):