Book Description

DOCTORS AN ADDRESS DELIVERED TO THE STUDENTS OF THE MEDICAL SCHOOL OF THE MIDDLESEX HOSPITAL BY RUDYARD KIPLING O n October 1st, 1908, Mr. Rudyard Kipling was kind enough to distribute the prizes at the opening of the new session of the Medical School of the Middlesex Hospital. The address which he then delivered was deemed by those who heard it so admirable, both in form and substance, that there arose a desire to preserve it. The object of this little book is to satisfy that wish. It has been suggested that its publication might be appreciated by others, who were neither concerned with the particular occasion, nor are personally connected with the medical profession. This being so, there is no need for an elaborate preface. Readers would derive no added pleasure from a detailed history of the hospital: Mr. Kipling’s speech requires no elucidation. Nevertheless it will do no harm to explain, for the benefit of some, why and where Mr. Kipling spoke. The Middlesex Hospital, in Mortimer Street, near Oxford Street, was founded in 1745. It then contained 24 beds. In 1907 the average daily number of occupied beds was 269: the total number of patients relieved in the out-patient department was 47,597. These figures will suggest the magnitude and scope of the work accomplished. The hospital is open to anybody who chooses to seek help and refuge there, free of all charge and cost. Amongst the honorary staff—those who give their services for nothing—are some of the first physicians and surgeons in London. In this connection attention may be called to what Mr. Kipling says of people who “cadge round the hospitals.” There must be some abuse by people who can well afford to pay their own doctors, and for whom the benefits of free hospitals were never intended. Such abuse is demoralising to themselves and adds obvious difficulties to the career of the private practitioner. This is one of those cases where it is not easy to reconcile the letter with the spirit: on the one hand, there is risk of withholding what is avowedly offered; on the other, of countenancing an admitted evil. It need only be said that the Board of Management do not ignore the problem which confronts them. The Medical School, the object of Mr. Kipling’s attention, manifestly requires no explanation. It was founded in 1835 and stands upon its own merits. Some of the scholarships and prizes in question represent the gifts and endowments of generous individuals interested in the progress of medical science. Others are provided by the School. A distinct, and most important, branch of the Hospital is the Cancer Charity with its Research Laboratory. The history of this department is certainly worth a little notice. It was established in 1792, mainly through the munificence of an anonymous donor, who turned out to be Mr. Whitbread, father of the famous Whig member of Parliament. It began with the allocation of one ward in the hospital to the care of patients who were to be kept in “until relieved by art or released by death”—a phrase retained to the present day. The disease was described by Mr. John Howard, surgeon, in his letter to the hospital of October 12, 1791, as one which “is, both with regard to its natural history and cure, but imperfectly known”—a statement which, unhappily, is not yet entirely out of date. Further endowments came from Mrs. Stafford about 1815, and from Sir Joseph de Courcy Laffan in 1848. In 1900 a separate wing for the treatment of cancer cases, and for laboratory research was opened. It contains forty-nine beds. These poor sufferers are allowed certain privileges and indulgences outside the usual routine of a hospital ward. DOCTORS AN ADDRESS DELIVERED TO THE STUDENTS OF THE MEDICAL SCHOOL OF THE MIDDLESEX HOSPITAL BY RUDYARD KIPLING