Queen Mary and Westfield College London University PhD Thesis ...

with the Apothecary, the size of his bills suggest that the Surgeon attended quite regularly.
The need for surgery at both hospitals had increased to such a degree by the early eighteenth
century, that John Wheeler claimed to have 'given constant daily attendance at one or other of
ye hospitals' and Wheeler's claim was backed up by the Physician, Richard hale"7.
Despite, or rather because of, the rather unregulated system of medical attendance at Beth-
lem, when medical officers were absent or unavailable, their service was sometimes fulfilled by the
hire of other, non-elected practitioners, living nearby the hospitals (particularly for Bridewell,
which medical officers visited much more rarely)' 18. When banning visitors to Bethlem on hol-
idays, the Governors were careful to make allowances for staff to summon 'Assistance' 'in case
of some p[re]sent necessity concerning life or sudden danger" 9. The lack of medical attention
for patients at Bethlem and just how open the hospital's environment was, is indicated by the
apothecary, Cromwell Mortimer's, account of how, visiting a patient there in 1742 at the request
of a relative, he was freely at liberty to try out his evacuant pills on the patient'20.
Absenteeism had certainly been a problem for the Governors with their medical officers
and the Bethiem Board was at times rather lax in ensuring that the medical attendance already
existing at the hospitals was sustained. On the death or during the sickness of medical staff, the
Governors were only intermittently careful to arrange for a prompt and suitable replacement,
whether permanent or temporary, rarely acknowledging, as they did in 1696, 'the necessity of
Cliooseing another person to succeed...with all convenient speed" 21 . In 1761, during the vacancy
of the Surgeon's place at Bridewell and Bethlem, the Apothecary, John Winder, was instructed
to 'Apply to the Surgeons of Saint Bartholomew's requesting their Assistance', but, merely, 'if
any Accidents shou'd happen to any of the Patients" 22 . The Surgeon, Jeremy Higgs, and the
Apothecary, James James, were dealt with very firmly, in 1672, when they were found to have
117 Ibid, 10 Jan. Le 14 Feb. 1718, fola 319 & 324.
118 See e.g. ilid, 10 Feb., 7 July, 4 Aug. & 20 Oct. 1643, 24 Oct. 1656, 3 June 1685, fols 15, 31, 56, 72, 771, 76;
re. outside surgeons and others treating & taking care of sick Bridewdll apprentices. For Bethiem, see e.g ibid,
7 Nov. 1645, fol. 226. Significantly, instances are mostly restricted to the seventeenth century, medical practice
being more tightly regulated as the period progressed.
119 BCGM, 12 June 1657, fol. 817.
120 See Mortinwr, An Address o Me P*&l,c&, 28, cited in Porter, Mind-Forg'd Mmmdc., 184-5.
121 See e g. ibid, 20 March 1696, 25 Feb. 1715, fols 32, 117; BSCM, 11 July 1795; BGCM, 22 Sept. 1795, fol.
51.
122 BSCM, 26 Sept. 1761.
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