LATE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2515, 17 July 1915, Page 5

LATE NEWS

ARMY HOSPITALS ORDER OUT OF CHAOS SICK AND WOUNDED FROM GALLIPOLI DIFFICULTIES OF HANDLING By Telegraph—Wsss Association-Copyright (Rec. July 17, 0.5 a.m.) London, July 16. 'Arrangements for treating the Australian wounded in England are at tho present moment ill a state of transition. Sir George Reid is arranging for the establishment of Australian hospital and convalescent homes to avoid their present distribution in War Office hospitals all oyer the country, and has initiated a new policy whereby all Australians are taken to a central hospital on arrival for operation if accessary ; if that is unnecessary they are passed on. to the auxiliary hospitals. The chief difficulty in the Dardanelles has been the lack of hospital ships. A contingent of Australian doctors and nurses, intended for Franco, have been diverted to Lemnos, where they will establish a hospital. It is expected that this will greatly; relieve the tension. Dr. Chappie's Impressions. Major W. A. Chapplo, a Royal Army Medical Commissioner and an ex-New Zealander, who visited tho chief hospitals at Cairo and Alexandria,; has returned to England with a hospital ship. Ho speaks highly of the medical services and the work and skill of many of England's best-known specialists. Dr. Chappie thinks that despite the convenient situation of Egypt, it is an unsuitable hospital base. The nearness of the crowded slums of Alexandria and Cairo adds greatly to the 'fly trouble. The doctors in Gallipoli do, all their work under fire. The men are rushed with the least possible delay to the hospital ships, and during their two days' voyage to Alexandria and ten hours' journey 'to Cairo they, receive little beyond first aid. Suggested Improvements. Dr. Chappie is of opinion that it would be bettor to bruig the men direct to -Malta and England, turning the hospital ship into a casualty clearing hos; pital, and giving tho men tho necessary surgical treatment immediately, • thus avoiding the present forty-eight, hours' delay. ■ Tho ships are splendidly equipped, some having operating theatres anu Xray departments, Which the English hospitals envy. In tho summer calm it is as easy to operate at sea as on. land,