HH62/1/DUNBAR/45

Transcription

[Page] 44

and level, and many cases might be removable for that distance,
especially as their friends could get to the hospital to inquire
about them by crossing the ferry. But a better arrangement
would be to have a small cottage, or a double lined wooden hut,
of two or three apartments, erected on the rising ground between
Kilcreggan and Rosneath, and jointly available for the burgh of
Cove and Kilcreggan and the rural population. Alternatively, a
similar cottage or hut might be erected at Garelochhead, if it
were not that at pesent there is no resident medical man in that
village. Such a cottage or hut might be kept closed unless when in
use, or given rent free to a caretaker, especially if the caretaker could
be got who would be competent to act as nurse when required.
For the most northerly part of the District - the parish of
Arrochar and the upper part of Luss - it might perhaps be possible
to arrange with the Parochial Board of Arrochar. The board has
fitted up a small cottage of two apartments near Tarbet, principally
for the reception of tramps, and navvies engaged on the West
Highland Railway. With the addition of another room the needs
of the locality might be met.
Eastern District. - During the year, fever cases have been sent
mostly to Govan hospital, but for Cumbernauld parish Falkirk
hospital has been found more convenient, though also much more
expensive.
I recently made to the District Committee a special report on
the hospital accommodation required for the parishes of Kirkin-
tilloch and Cumbernauld. Briefly, my recommendations were
that a joint hospital of about thirty beds be erected to serve for
the burghs of Kirkintilloch and Kilsyth, and the parishes of
Kirkintilloch and Cumbernauld in Eastern Dunbartonshire,
Baldernock, Campsie, and Strathblane in Western Stirlingshire,
and Kilsyth in Central Stirlingshire. The burgh of Kilsyth has,
I am told, concluded not to have any share in such a hospital,
and since this report was begun Kirkintilloch has also assumed a
very doubtful attitude. On the other hand, informal enquiries
have been made in regard to the admission to the joint scheme of
a part of the Lower Ward of Lanarkshire, so that it may come to
replace the two burghs. The part of the Lower Ward is the
parish of Cadder, with a population of 8302 and a valuation of
£53,331. The cost of buildings might be allocated on the basis of

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a mean between population and valuation, and as the population,
though numbering 24,941, includes no towns, a hospital of twenty
beds might suffice. In that case the relationship of the several
local authorities to the scheme might be as follows, on the sup-
position that the hospital would cost £150 per bed:-

[Table inserted]

The site suggested is on a rising ground at Inchbelly Bridge
near the Kelvin, about one mile from Kirkintilloch. The soil,
elevation, distance from dwelling-houses, water supply, drain-
age, convenience for medical attendance, and nearness to the
greater part of the population in the district intended to be
served by the hospital, are all considerations which are fairly met
by the site suggested.
For East Kilpatrick undoubtedly the best arrangement, if it
could be equitably brought about, would be to utilise the existing
hospital at Knightswood, which belongs to the burghs of Partick
and Glasgow - the latter as representing the former burghs of
Hillhead and Maryhill. West Kilpatrick might be served by
a hospital near Dunbarton, as already suggested. Otherwise,
Knightswood hospital might be arranged with. The population
of East and West Kilpatrick, with that of the burghs of Clyde-
bank and Milngavie, is quite sufficient to make use of a joint
hospital of a fairly workable size; but it seems a pity to multiply
hospitals unnecessarily, and this alternative should only be thought
of if other feasible arrangements fail.