091322 140 year history - A4 landscape v1 digital - Flipbook - Page 27
1886
Private Ward
The mission of Prince Alfred Hospital was ‘relief
of the sick, maimed and the convalescing from all
parts of the colony’ and no-one was turned away
however poor. In those days it was customary for
well-off people to be cared for at home by relatives,
servants or hired nurses, with the doctor making
home visits. But in the new Prince Alfred Hospital
there was a private ward at the end of each big
ward where paying patients could choose to stay.
Strikingly different from the general wards, these
private wards had their own separate bathroom and
were comfortable, cheerful and home-like.
Image from the Knox family papers, State Library of NSW
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