GREAT ORMOND STREET HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN
“Of this great city of
London which, until a few weeks ago, contained no hospital wherein to treat and
study the diseases of children – more than a third of the whole population perishes
in infancy and childhood” Charles Dickens’ Drooping
Buds published in Household Worlds
Magazine, 5:106,1852.
Life in Victorian Britain
was perilous. The conditions, especially in the poverty stricken areas in the
East End were horrific. People lived in slums and had a basic lack of
sanitation. Due to this many children were never expected to make it past
childhood. Without hygiene and access to proper medical care, many children
lived up to this poor expectation.
Alleyway in Slum District www.jantoo.com/slums
Britain was part of the
Great Empire. She ruled countries all over the world. Her great capital,
London, however was lacking. As pointed out by Dickens she lacked a hospital
for children, those who would grow up to continue the legacy of the Empire. Luckily
in 1852 this changed and Great Ormond Street Hospital, found at no.49 Great
Ormond Street, Queen’s Square, London was founded. The hospital is now not only
one of London’s most treasured landmarks but also is synonymous with
outstanding medical care and research for Sick Children.
Dr Charles West founded
the hospital in 1852. “West’s belief that sick children needed dedicated,
inpatient care led him to open the Hospital for Sick Children at Great Ormond
Street” (gosh.org). Here children could receive the medical care they needed in
a safe environment that supplied them with food, shelter and clean
surroundings.
Dr Charles West www.gosh.org
Inside the hospital
When the hospital first
opened it contained only 10 beds. However the founders had already realised the
importance of milk for the hospital. Twelve days before it opened the
Godmanchester Milk Company became the official supplier to Great Ormond Street
Hospital.
Before 1914, patients of
the hospital mainly consumed condensed milk. However this had little
nutritional value and was a major contributor to infantile digestive problems
and TB. (HHARP.org)
By 1866 ‘The Milk Room’
saw the consumption of 250 quarts (62.5 gallons) a week! The importance of the
milk room demonstrated the correct nutrition that the children received during
their stay at the Hospital. (HHARP.org) Many of the patients came from the
surrounding slum areas and lived in poverty. One such case is chronicled on the
HHARP website. The address given at the time of his admittance contained, “11
families, totalling at least 43 individuals” Willie had contracted tubercular
disease and this was probably a direct action of his living conditions.
As with modern hospitals
Great Ormond Street Hospital had a busy pharmacy although it was known as the
Dispensary. The hospital spent £42 (HHARP) on drugs and surgical instruments in
1852. After signing it’s first drug contract they became one of the leading
hospitals in medicinal trials. This is work that continues today.
As listed on the HHARP
website these are some of the medications given:
Eggs,
Beer,
Wine, (a surprisingly
large quantity of alcohol was consumed on alcohol premises!)
Arsenic,
Purgatives,
Bleeding.
J Wycliffe Peck, pharmacist (seated) with
staff of the pharmacy. Wycliffe Peck was pharmacist to the hosptial from
1894-1936. www.hharp.org
Dickens and medicine
Charles Dickens is one of
Britain’s most iconic authors. His work is celebrated all over the world for
his championing of the poor and their quest for bettering themselves. Dickens
charts the life of Pip in Great
Expectations, the orphan boy brought up by his sister until an unknown
benefactor wishes for him to become a gentleman. He is also crated the iconic Oliver Twist, another orphan who found
wealth. As a man from humble beginnings Dickens always took a keen interest in
London’s poor and weak.
In many of his novels
Dickens includes hospitals, doctors and nurses. Donald Hawes writes, “Given the
uncertain nature of medical care compared to what we expect today and given the
number of illnesses that were accepted as part of everyday life, it is not
suprising that Dickens, like other Victorian novelists, presents us with a
number of cases of physical and mental incapacity and suffering” (58)
Dickens used his
journalism skills to spread news of Great Ormond Street Hospital and to gain
support for it. He wrote Drooping Buds
in ‘Household Worlds Magazine’ in 1852. In the article he emphasizes the
importance of the hospital in “this great city of London” (p45). Dickens also
uses powerful images of children’s graves, “those little graves two or three
feet long, which are so plentiful in our churchyards” (45) to conjure up public
sympathy and interest.
The article also enables
the reader to see the interior of the hospital and gain an idea of its
environment. He describes the “neat and new appearance of the hospital walls”
and a “woman with a child in her arms was finding ready admission in the great
hall” (46). The opening description of the hospital allows the reader to
imagine the new hospital ready to serve its purpose of helping sick children.
Dickens continues to
describe his journey within the hospital and describes what he sees in the
wards.
‘little
eyes looked up from little beds, was quite a cheerful sight. The walls were
painted, in panel, with rosy nymphs
and
children; and the light laughter of children was our entrance. Nothing was sad
here.’ P.47
The repetition of ‘little’
emphasises that the hospital is for children. The tone of the article changes
here, it becomes more light-hearted and cheerful, which echoes the tone of
children. An ideal scene is depicted of the children through the sounds of
their laughter. This would appeal to any mothers reading the magazine and
therefore is a good way of drumming up support and therefore financial
contributions to the hospital.
In the article the reader
gets a sense of what the ward looked like,
“Light iron cribs, with
beds made in them, were ranged, instead of chairs, against the walls.” (47) By
saying cribs are against the walls instead of chairs, Dickens is implying that
the hospital could easily be extended.
Engraving of the Hospital’s original ward. From The Penny Illustrated Paper (1863)
www.hharp.org
One Christmas, as a way to
raise funds for the hospital, with the hospital facing bankruptcy and with more
patients than there was room, Dickens read passaged from his celebrated work, A Christmas Carol. The character of
Tiny Tim could well have been a patient of the hospital. This act meant that
all the funds needed to not only save, but expand the hospital were met. The
HHARP website writes, “the words of Charles Dickens supported the hospital in
the difficult early years of its life. Without his commitment, there may not
have been a Great Ormond Street Hospital”. Therefore it is evident that the literature of Charles Dickens, among others, helped to secure the future of The Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children.
Works cited:
Dickens, Charles and
Morley, Henry, Drooping Buds. Household Worlds. V:106. 45-47. 1852.
Online http://www.djo.org.uk/household-words/volume-v/page-45.html
Hawes, Donald. Charles Dickens. London, GBR: Continuum
International Publishing, 2007. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 23 March 2015.
www.gosh.org
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