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to the demand for hospitals I learnt that more convalescent home accommodation
was necessary. This demand came especially from two quarters-from
hospitals and great labour associations. The late Lord Derby, when
presiding over the Triennial Festival of the Charing Cross Hospital
in 1888, said "If a patient in a convalescent stage is kept in
the hospital, he is occupying a bed which is wanted for a case of
more severe suffering. If, on the other hand, he is sent half recovered
to his home, which in many cases is a miserable one, and when the
progress of convalescence is slow, much of the good done by the hospital
is of no avail." This being so, it occurred to me that in supplying
a convalescent home to or for a hospital I was, to that extent, virtually
enlarging the hospital itself, or adding to it a new wing-a wing situated
amid bluer skies, purer air, and serener surroundings than exist,
or can exist, in London or other large towns. |
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I have
accordingly provided the convalescent home at Limpsfield for
Charing Cross Hospital; the convalescent home at Cranbrook for
the Metropolitan Hospital; the convalescent home at Perranporth
for the Cornwall Royal Infirmary; the Caxton Convalescent Home
for the printing and allied trades; the convalescent home at
Herne Bay for the Friendly Societies; the convalescent home
at Herne Bay for railwaymen; and the convalescent home for the
Workmen's Club and Institute Union at Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate.
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is gratifying to know and to record the fact that, in obedience to
my suggestion, the workmen's homes mentioned are under the exclusive
trusteeship and direction of workmen. |
| In proof
of the difficulty of securing suitable sites for convalescent
homes, and particularly in districts where rich people live
in fine houses surrounded with picturesque grounds, I will record
an experience in connection with the Charing Cross Home referred
to. After the sub-committee appointed for the purpose had visited
about twenty obtainable sites, one consisting of many acres
near Reigate was selected, for which a preliminary agreement
for purchase was made |
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local gentry, hearing what was proposed, conferred and combined together,
brought social pressure on the selling landlord, and prevented the
completion of the sale. This may be called Disappointment No. I. After
additional inquiry, the sub-committee next selected a very suitable
site, also consisting of many acres, near Sevenoaks. In due course
another preliminary agreement was made, and the final negotiation
was again defeated in a similar way by a similar combination of rich
people. Disappointment No.2. The sub-committee, so far baffled and
beaten, pursued their purpose, and, after more inquiry and delay,
pitched on a preeminently good site at Limpsfield, near Oxted, in
Surrey. In this case also a preliminary arrangement for sale was made;
but, strange to say, as if determined by a fiat of fate, a few wealthy
people in the Limpsfield district put their heads and their hearts
together, and brought sufficient influence to bear on Mr. Leveson-Gower,
the selling landlord, effectually to prevent the purchase. Disappointment
No.3. I mention these facts to show that certain well-to-do people,
with full command of the enjoyments of life, entertain an unconquerable
objection to their poorer fellow-countrymen and women coming "between
the wind and their nobility." Poor men and women are well enough
in their places, and particularly when producing the wealth of the
wealthy; but they are told, by such acts as I have described, that
they must, when seeking health, keep out of sight and hearing of the
privileged few, who fare sumptuously every day. |
| It happened
that soon after disappointment No 3 an ideal property for convalescent
purposes came into the market; it also happened to be at Limpsfield,
and adjoining the property of Mr. Leveson-Gower referred to,
and this was submitted for sale at Tokenhouse Yard. It was determined
to secure this site, if it could be got at anything like a reasonable
price. I had, however, to move with considerable caution, for
fear that my object might be suspected and another combination
formed to end in another disappointment. |
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attended the sale, and, fearing I might he known and my intention
scented, I sat for two hours on the first seat immediately in front
of the auctioneer, without moving or looking to the right or left.
The lot, after a spirited bidding, was knocked down to me, and the
property was afterwards transferred to the authorities of the Charing
Cross Hospital; and on this magnificent site, with its immense stretch
of landscape in front, its many hundred acres of public forests behind,
and its unsurpassed salubrious surroundings, now stand in triumphant
repose the Charing Cross Convalescent Home and the Caxton Convalescent
Home. |
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