THAMES HOSPITAL.

Thames Star, Volume IIII, Issue 1744, 5 August 1874, Page 2

THAMES HOSPITAL.

(To the Editor of the Evbmng r sTA*j Sib,—Charitable institutions are deserving of either private or public' support only according to the manner. m+ which such - places fulfil- the purposes for which they have been established and supported. Yet how often do we fcnd~ some of those institutions which. have been well and liberally maintained, not a blessing but a curse to some individuals who have had the misfortune to seek relief within the, walls of sueh establishments. Indeed, if public and private reports which I have heard are true, a glaring case ending in this result has rery recently occurred at the.Thames Hospital. Now, sir, as well as I can ascertain the case, the facts connected with it are ai follows. Maurice Power was ad? mitted as a patient into the ' Hospita some time ago, and about nine weeks from thence his arm from'the shoulder was amputated.., The reasons why this extreme course had to be resorted to, it is alleged, were; principally want of ' skill 1 or' carelessness ill the medical staff, and a gross neglect- of duty cr wanton .negligence in some of the warders attending the patient. When Power wa^fint

taken into the hospital, the only serious injury he suffered from was a lacerated wound on the wrist, caused by a blast. It is also.asserted that most,'if,not all of

the leading arteries on the small of the wrist were severed, but it could not then tie certified whetker the bone war broken or not. At all events, the patient was attended by the doctor, and the wound dressed, I presume, in a proper manner. And now comes the first ano no doubt the chief neglect of the warder attending the patient. When Power was taken i into the hospital and his wounds dressed, j he very soon after-became quite delirious, ' and in bed frequently tried to undo the bandages and dressing on his. wrist, but the warder wai in attendance, saw. this, and, prevented him from doing ' so, ;until' the patient became quieter, when the warder went away and left the unfortunate man to his unlucky fat6

tmtilrmormng.; The^ result, alas 1 fojr | -pppr'i&taurice Power, is indeed a sad ons. It appears that during the night he took ?all the bandages oft" his afm, as in the indrJaing it hung suspended by the "bed? side*; quite naked, an indescribable, benumbed, blueish, lifeless appendage. Thai ii was so,',can easily be conjectured;, as from the loss of blood it sustained previously > exposure to the cold during a great part-'otf the night would cause; it to be in the above condition, as well.is beini tHe cause of gangrene, which immediately set in,so virulently that it is stated altthe Hedical skill of the staff was not aWe" to counteract it and restore the woun d t.p a healthy condition. But this ia not all. One morning again, on a subsequent occasion,Maurice was found as if lifeless, weltering; in his gore. The: reason is pbr Yi ous —the arteries burst during the night; and there wa3 no person .to attend to him until lie very nearly bled to death. Of course, all this was hushed up. Howf ever, through good or ill, here he lay during eight or nine weeks, until^ ii' the' public know, the whole arni had to be amputated ; and what he sufr fered in that time it is asserted that Je^ ordinary ; mortals could, endure, as the arm when taken off was a complete piitrid mass, riot recognisable as any por,tion of the human frame. In conclusion

I may here state that for the, information contained herein I am in no way indebted to Mr. Power; I have heardit publicly,

and thought that before now an investigation, would be made by the proper authorities so as to ascertain the true facts of the v caie. As this has not bjeeh done I think it a duty to place the matter before the public, and thereby afford an opportunity to those immediately conjaected with the hospital to rebut these *" eharges against them, and prove that Mr. Power ia not, as alleged to be, a victim of neglect and unskilled treatment. whilst a in the Thames Hospital. ■■■■■■ ; .'•'.■-.■.■ .-. ' I amj i&C, ■.••'•■■•:■;: r ;;'."•""■"■'■ ;';■'•■ ' .■■'■■ '■'■'■ ;;''iHtrMANITATis. j