On This Day
On This Day, 26 October 1916
On 26, Oct 2016 | In On This Day | By Nicola Gauld
Birmingham Daily Post
Thursday 26 October 1916
HOSPITAL SUNDAY IN BIRMINGHAM.
Hospital Sunday will be observed in Birmingham on Sunday next, when collections will be made in places of worship on behalf of the medical charities of the city. The needs of Birmingham hospitals were never more urgent than at present. Last year the seventeen charities participating in the collection treated over 228,000 patients. All these institutions are faced with increasing expenditure owing to the high prices of food, drugs, and medical stores. A number have allocated beds for sick and wounded soldiers, whilst others have treated many as out-patients, or by minor operations have fitted men, otherwise ineligible, to serve their country, the number so treated running into thousands. Owing to the increased expenditure nearly every institution is faced with a deficit, so that without the assistance of a good collection on Hospital Sunday it is feared that many will have to curtail their operations, and be unable to cope with the growing number of men who will need treatment on their discharge from military service owing to wounds or sickness. The collection last yielded £4,995 gross, which was £1,173 less than in 1910. It is hoped largely to exceed last year’s collection on Sunday next.