§ MR. J. G. TALBOTasked the President of the Local Government Board, Whether he has been able to ascertain the truth as to the small-pox patient, who is alleged to have gone from Guy's Hospital to the Stockwell Hospital on a public conveyance; and, whether, with the view of preventing the spread of disease, he will endeavour to arrange that the authorities of the various Metropolitan Hospitals shall have ready access to the ambulances provided by the Metropolitan Asylums Board, or by the parochial authorities, for the purpose of conveying infectious persons to the hospitals appointed for their reception?
§ MR. DODSONSir, I have now ascertained that the person referred to came to 1236 Guy's Hospital among the crowd of outpatients who resort there, and was found to be suffering from small-pox, and that he was advised to leave and apply for admission to a small-pox hospital through the intervention of the parish authorities, and without exposing himself unnecessarily so as to endanger others. The going to the Stockwell Hospital by a public conveyance appears to have been entirely the man's own act, for which the medical officer at Guy's was in no sense responsible. It is evident that the governing bodies of the London hospitals have at present much difficulty in dealing with these cases when they present themselves, as they have no accommodation for them; and I have now under consideration the arrangements which should be adopted for the temporary retention of patients of this class until they can be removed, and for rendering the ambulances of the managers of the Asylums District and the parochial authorities more readily available for their removal.