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EPSOM COLLEGE

THE seventy-ninth annual general meeting of thegovernors of Epsom College was held at the LondonOffice, 49, Bedford-square, on Friday, June 24th,1932. Dr. Raymond Crawfurd, chairman of theCouncil, announced that the scheme to abolish votingand to substitute therefor the election of founda-tioners and pensioners by a selection committee hadreceived the Royal Assent. He reminded the meetingthat 93 per cent. of the governors had been in favourof this move, which would have beneficial effectsnot only on the Foundation but also on the school.Another result of the passage of the scheme throughParliament was that medical women and their sonswere now equally eligible with medical men andtheir sons to receive the benefits of the Foundation.He said that in order to assist parents as far aspossible during the present period of stress the Councilhad decided to award two open entrance scholarshipsannually of 9100 each, in addition to two openscholarships annually not exceeding E60 each. Theyhad awarded five open scholarships this year, wherethere were only two vacancies, and he announced,to the great approval of everybody present, thatthe Council had also decided to educate and maintainthis year two additional foundationers, bringing thetotal up to 52. He added that the Council haddecided to commence work right away on the buildingof a new block containing biological laboratories andmuseum, feeling that the subscribers would agree withthe determination to provide at Epsom the highestfacilities for the study of a subject which was dailyincreasing in importance.

PENSIONERSHIPS

The following were the successful candidates :—

*Coombe, Dr. Thomas S.*Ashton, Mrs. Charlotte R.

* Ordinary pensioners.

*Drummond, Mrs. Ellen.tHine, Mrs. Emily.

† Pugh pensioner.

At the Council meeting, which will be held onJuly 6th, 1932, Dr. Archibald J. Campbell will beappointed a "Christie" pensioner, Mrs.. Mary V.

Knight will be appointed a "

Highett "

pensioner,Mrs. Lowiny I. Addison will be appointed an ordinarypensioner, and Mrs. Louisa Knox will be appointeda

"

Pugh " pensioner, vacancies having arisen. Two

other pensionerships will also be awarded.

FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS

The following were the successful candidates :—

Harty, Desmond I.Archibald, Roy McL.Wilman, Peter N.Cotes, John C. D.Pim, John A.

Prentice, John R.

Todd, Kellingworth R.*Hancock, John W.*Fairhall, Christopher H.

* Additional scholarships granted by the Council.

OFFICERS OF THE COLLEGE

The following members of the Council were re-electedfor a further period of three years : Dr. H. W.Armstead, Mr. D. C. Bartley, LL.B., Sir John F. H.Broadbent, Sir Ernest Goodhart, Mr. A. C. C.Parkinson, Dr. Harold Spitta, Sir StClair Thomson,Mr. W. Cyril Tomlinson, Mr. T..Hollis Walker, K.C.,and Dr. W. Essex Wynter. Mr. Ronald Cove-Smithwas elected a member of the Council.

Colonel Norman C. King and Mr. P. D. Leake,F.C.A., were re-elected auditors, and Mr. Horace H.Rew was elected an auditor in the place of SirFrederic G. Hallett, retired.

IRELAND

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT)

THE NEEDS OF IRISH HOSPITALS

THE report of the committee of-reference appointedby the Minister for Justice, to advise him as to thedistribution of the proceeds of the sweepstake onthe Manchester November Handicap, was publishedlast week. There has been some grumbling as tothe delay in issuing the report, but no one who readsit will think that the committee has taken too longin making the careful study of which it gives evidence.Not only had the committee to arrive at what seemedan equitable principle of distribution, but it had tovisit and examine the circumstances of each partici-pating hospital, and scrutinise its claims and needs.Further, and this is by no means the least importantpart of its work, although only indirectly connectedwith its main duty, the committee thought it properto make some general observations and commentson the Irish hospital system. In the course of theirwork the members visited 45 institutions, inspectedthe premises, fittings, and equipment, and obtainedfull information relating to the management andfinancial position of each. They discussed all mattersrelating to the needs and circumstances of eachhospital with the governors, committees of manage-ment, medical officers, and nursing staffs. Theproposals and architectural plans were examined andcriticism offered where necessary. After matureconsideration the committee decided that the onlyequitable division of the available funds that it coulddevise should be based on a computation of thetotal financial needs of each hospital. These needswere arrived at by a consideration of the severalclaims under the following heads : (a) Repayment-of loans, including bank overdrafts ; (b) buildingworks, including mechanical plant, cost of site, andprofessional fees-; (c) furture ; (d) medical surgical,and pathological apparatus; (e) investment forendowment purposes. These were considered inrelation to the needs existing prior to the sweep-stakes, and, in the case of hospitals which had alreadyreceived amounts from previous sweepstakes, suchamounts were deducted from the total awards inorder to arrive at the present total needs. Thetotal " awards " approved by the committee cameto 5,256,964, from which a sum of 1,270,022 isdeducted in regard to receipts from previous sweep-stakes, leaving 3,986,942 as the total " award"from the November sweepstake.The term " award," as used by the committee,

requires explanation or it may lead to misconception.What the committee has done is to decide on thesum actually needed by a hospital for purposesapproved by the committee. This sum, called " theaward," has been reached by pruning, or in a fewcases increasing, the claims submitted by eachhospital. But although spoken of as " an award,"this sum is not at all the actual amount which willreach the hospitals from the Manchester NovemberHandicap. It is the amount which the committeewould be willing to recommend as a grant if therewere unlimited funds at the Minister’s disposal. Theactual surplus available from the November sweep-stake will be about one-eighth of the sum nominallyC6 awarded."The general observations and criticisms on the

Irish hospital system are valuable, although thecommittee makes - no claim to have studied the

question except in so far as was necessary to guide