The Hospital Requirements of Sydney. 47 



7th. That a' large portion of the ground belonging to the Sydney- 

 Infirmary is at present occupied by numerous small detached 

 buildings, the accommodation now contained in which might con- 

 veniently be placed in a new front building. 



8th. That the present main front building is not suited to the 

 requirements of a modern hospital for the reception of acute 

 cases — that it cannot be converted into such, and that it will be 

 an ultimate economy to rebuild it at once. 



9th. That the new structure should consist of a centre, with 

 two adjoining wings, having a basement and three floors — that 

 the centre and basement should contain all the administrative 

 accommodation, and the two wings be devoted to wards. 



10th. That the establishment thus remodelled will be equally 

 efficient for the reception of acute cases of disease and severe 

 accidents, &c, for all the purposes of a school of medicine such 

 as that proposed, and as a training school for sisters and nurses 

 for the country hospitals. 



llth. That a small hospital for the reception of patients 

 suffering from consumption, should be established at Port 

 Macquarie. 



12. That the cases now treated in the lying-in wards of the 

 Benevolent Assylum should be transferred to the country, and 

 be accommodated m detached weatherboard cottages in connection 

 with the Infirmary. 



13. That the utmost efforts of charity among the inhabitants 

 of Sydney audits suburbs will not be capable of supporting a con- 

 valescent hospital, or for some years to come a third Central 

 General Hospital. 



Appendix. 



The following extracts are from the Report to the Privy 

 Council, by Dr. Bristowe and Timothy Holmes, Esq., 1863 : — 



" The institution of convalescent hospitals, that is to say, of 

 hospitals in which patients shall be maintained for a short time 

 after their recovery, until their strength is more completely re- 

 paired, is a charitable and wise provision, but one which is of 

 more importance in a social than in a sanitary point of view. Con- 

 sidered in regard to the sanitary condition of hospitals, the chief 

 effect of convalescent asylums would seem to be to facilitate the 

 more early withdrawal of lingering cases from the wards, and thus 

 to set free the beds for the treatment of acute diseases. We may 

 hope that the scheme will be largely extended. 



" Closely connected with the foundation of such institutions in 

 connection with our London hospitals, — for such institutions will 

 always be in the country, — comes the still more important question 

 of the desirability of seeking a rural site for what are now metro- 

 politan hospitals. The statements contained in this report, with 



