A women's ward at Barnhill Hospital c 1898, with four nurses in attendance.
A more accurate picture of staffing levels at the hospital emerges from a report by its Medical Officer Dr William Core in 1895: "female 2 (comprising wards 44, 55, 47, 46, 45) containing fifty-four beds and two cots; female surgical wards, and also usual medical cases, with cases of cancer and helpless patients under the care of one Staff Nurse and two probationers by day, and one night Nurse. Besides, in each of these sets of wards a probationer goes on duty at 4am for the purpose of assisting the night Nurse with the work which is specially heavy in the morning."
In what was a successful defence of staff levels in the face of proposed cuts, Dr Core went on to point out that the proportion of nurses to patients at Barnhill was one to eleven or twelve, compared to a proportion of one to three or four at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
Reference: Glasgow City Archives, P9043
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
Barnhill Hospital, beds, hospitals, Medical Officers, nurses, nursing, patients, wards, women