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AN OUT-PATIENT DEPARTMENT FOR

CHILDRENADDITIONS TO THE INFANTS HOSPITAL

ON Oct. 31st the new out-patient department of the Infants Hospital, Vincent-square, London, willbe opened by the Princess Royal, president of thehospital. The department is the first part of theextension scheme to be completed ; the schemeprovides, in addition, for a new ward block for 76patients, the reconstruction of the existing hospital,and the conversion of the old out-patient departmentinto a new nurses’ home. It was originally intendedtnat tne new out-

patient depart-ment should makeprovision for ante-natal care ofmothers, but

owing to theeconomic depres-sion, plans had tobe curtailed.Apart from thisomission thedepartment hasbeen equipped tomeet the needs ofthe hospital, andthe architect, Mr.C. Stanley Peach,has shown con-

sideration forpatients, doctors,and nurses alikein his design.

The patient’spoint of view.-Mothers arrivingat the departmentcan park per-ambulators, withreasonable safety,in an alley-waybetween the new building and a neighbouring rowof houses. They enter on the ground-floor level,and wait in the out-patients’ hall which occupiesthe centre of the building and is lighted fromabove by a glass roof. The hall is rubber-flooredand automatically heated. At one corner the

dispensary waiting-room opens out of it, and herea buffet is provided at which mothers can fortifythemselves with tea and buns. Doors from thehall lead into consulting-rooms, the weighing-roomand the almoner’s office. A gallery runs roundthe hall at the level of the first floor, and from thisopen ear, nose and throat, and eye departments,X ray and massage rooms, a room for light treatment,another for plastering, and a fully equipped theatrein which minor operations can be performed, andnext to which a large recovery room has been set apart. Patients therefore need make no excursionsto distant parts of the hospital when examination ina special department is required. In the basement,entered by a separate door, is a small blue-tiled chapeland a waiting-room for relatives.

The medical 8taff’s point of view.-Each consulting-room is supplied with an X ray view-box lighted frombehind and a basin with running water ; heating isby the ceiling panel system, and gas fires are built Iinto the wall for use in emergency. The ground floor

consulting-rooms receive zenith light from skylightsmade by setting the first storey back a little from theground floor. In the operating theatre the samemethod of lighting has been followed ; air enteringthe theatre is filtered through cheese-cloth stretchedon wire frames which can easily be taken out and

cleaned. On the top floor, at roof level, is a dietkitchen and milk laboratory, entirely cut off from thepart of the building used by patients. Milk will bestored in a large refrigerated cupboard. The base-ment contains a series of cubicles in which childrenfound to have infectious diseases can wait until theambulance comes for them. Behind the chapel is amortuary and a pathological laboratory where post-mortem examinations can be carried out. Bodies

will be placed ina refrigeratedchamber.The nurses’ point

of view.—Anattempt has beenmade to avoid allunnecessaryclean.ing and polishing.The rubber or

teak-block floorscan be cleanedquickly with a

mop ; the door-handles are madeof some sort ofcompositionwhichactually defiescleaning. Even thestairs are slightlyundercut to pre-vent dust collect-ing on their faces.A slight falling-offin this admirableprinciple may beobserved in thebrass hand-rail,but it is believedthat constant use

at the hands ofthe public will help to keep this burnished. Wire

glass takes the place of railings on the stairsand round the central well. A special sloping slabis provided for the washing of napkins, and specimennapkins will be kept in small cupboards communi-cating by means of wire gauze with the outer air.The slats in the linen cupboards can be taken outand boiled ; large heated cupboards are provided towarm blankets. All the doors are fitted with self-

closing hinges and the walls are covered with cellulosepaint.

General equipment.-The, windows are made on aspecial design : the top and bottom panes are hingedalong their upper and lower borders respectively, andopen inwards to an angle of 45°. The central paneis divided into two lattices with vertical hinges. It

is therefore possible to maintain ventilation byopening the top and bottom panes while avoidingany chance of being overlooked by closing the twocentral panes. A series of emergency batteries arebeing continuously charged and will come into actionin case of failure of electric light power from the main.The equipment also includes water-softening, refrigera-ting, and ice-making apparatus. The new blockcommunicates with the hospital on every floor, thepassages entering the hospital between floors so thatnone of them are exactly on a level with the wards.