Triennial report on the hospitals and dispensaries in Burma.

  • Burma.
Date:
[1919]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Triennial report on the hospitals and dispensaries in Burma. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    20/62 (page 14)
    Generally speaking the work of this class has been good, though there have been some inexcusable instances of incompetence and neglect, especially in Medico-legal work. The training in this important branch requires more attention, and will I hope be improved in the future. At the same time it cannot be denied that professional efficiency and general education have greatly increased during 'recent years. Sub-Assistant Surgeons who cannot write readable and intelligible English, are now as rare as they were, common twenty years ago. The weakest point in their equipment at present is lack of discipline, some members of the service seem to have no conception of the meaning of the word. It is a severe test to be placed in charge of a small isolated hospital for several years with no chance of meeting men of their profession or seeing another man’s work. Yet most Sub-Assistant Surgeons retain their professional keenness and industry in a very creditable degree. I take the liberty of suggesting that the time has come for altering the rules enjoining Civil Surgeons to, themselves, write the Annual Reports of Hospitals and Dispensaries in charge of Sub- Assistant Surgeons. When originally promulgated the general education of Sub- Assistant Surgeons was so poor that very few of them could have written an intelligible report, hence the necessity of the order. But a different state of education exists now, and almost every Sub-Assistant Surgeon is capable of writing quite a good report on his year’s work, and doing so would have both a stimulating and educative influence. The Civil Surgeon after adding his remarks or criticism should pass it on to the Inspector-General of Civil Hospitals who would thus gain a valuable clue to the Sub-Assistant Surgeon’s value and mental capacity. No doubt some quaint expressions and still quainter views would be found in these reports, but they would tend to increase the man’s pride in his work and make him think, and weigh evidence, on professional matters. 25. Ward Assistants.—These men have had one year’s training in nursing and are employed in mofussil hospitals as substitutes for trained nurses The reports about their usefulness are conflicting—my own experience has been good, but a large number of Medical Officers consider that they are merely overpaid Ward servants and of little value. As a class they are not likely to be permanent and will no doubt gradually be replaced by properly trained nurses, but in the meantime they fill with more or less success, the gap between the ward servant and the Medical Officer. 27. Nursing.—Most of the nurses in the Province receive their training at the General Hospital, Rangoon. There are two classes, Europeans and Anglo- Indians, and those drawn from the indigenous races chiefly Burmans and Karens. The first mentioned class goes through a three years’ training, but of late, great difficulty has been experienced in obtaining suitable candidates. The pay and prospects are insufficient to attract girls with the necessary physique and intelligence, and the shortage has made it necessary to fill the vacancies with Burman and Karen Nurses. The latter class of which there are at present twenty under training, work for two years only. I agree with the Superintendent, General Hospital, in thinking that this is not sufficient. Many of these girls take posts in the smaller hospitals throughout the country and I have had painful personal experience of their deficiencies. They have no knowledge of “ Theatre” work, which, in a small hospital, is their most important duty. The training should be extended for another year and made more complete than at present. A few Burman nurses are trained at Mandalay, and Hospitals like Moulmein, Akyab, Maymyo and and Toungoo should all be utilized for training, in fact I think a girl has a better chance of a good all-round training in a small than in a large hospital, for she can receive more individual attention, provided of course there Is a competent matron. In addition to the above, the Dufferin Nurses, twenty in number, receive their training for two years in sick-nursing at* the General Hospital, afterwards going through their obstetric training for one year at the Dufferin Hospital. Backward as the Province is in nursing arrangements as compared with the western countries, 1 believe in this respect we are ahead of most other Provinces in the Indian Empire. Registration of Nurses should be introduced both for the protection of the public and of the nurses themselves. 28. Results System Midwives.—Eight Results System Midwives have been trained during the year, making a total of 23 for the triennium. There are now 75 scattered throughout the Province.