need to make sure you have somewhere dry to sleep, Jimmy, before you are discharged. You have a diagnosis of acute bronchitis, I believe. We cannot have you returning to the same dreadful conditions from which you came, or you will end up back here in no time.’ Alice worked hard to educate her patients on the prevention of disease as well as its cure. She discouraged spitting in public to try and contain the tuberculosis epidemic, threw open windows when visiting festering, bug-ridden homes and badgered landlords into improving the state of their properties’ repair.
She also made attempts to educate employers about the conditions endured by homeless employees; the railwaymen living in empty coaches with their fellow workers and going to bed in damp clothes because there was no way of drying them, and builders and labourers who slept in half-built structures that offered little protection on the cold winter nights. The almoners sometimes arranged the construction of on-site huts similar to the Morrison shelters that would offer sanctuary to Londoners during the Second World War, to provide protection from the elements and help to improve the health of homeless workers.
Jimmy coughed and snuffed out his cigarette on an ashtray on his bedside cabinet. ‘Ah, that’s good of you, Miss, so it is, but there’s no need to go to all that trouble for me, m’darling. I don’t want to go causing any aggravation for the boss. I need my job, so I do. I can’t risk losing it.’
‘It is no trouble at all, Jimmy. It is what I am paid for.’
Jimmy raised copious objections, each summarily dismissed by the almoner. ‘But a man has to sort out his own troubles, or he’s not fit to call himself one.’
‘Jimmy,’ Alice said sternly, ‘do not make this difficult.’
Jimmy’s shoulders sagged. ‘Ah, I can’t remember the boss’s name and that’s the God’s honest truth, darling, I swear.’
Alice pre-empted any further argument by snapping her notepad to a close and springing to her feet. ‘Very well. I shall make my own enquiries.’
‘You’re a persistent woman, so you are,’ Jimmy said as she prepared to leave. ‘But no less beautiful for it.’
Alice threw a mock chiding look his way. As she emerged from the ward, Dr Harland appeared at the opposite end of the corridor, his curly hair unkempt. Their eyes locked. Harland slowed, shoulders stiffening, then turned towards a side room. ‘Doctor?’ Alice called out. ‘May I have a word with you?’
Harland stopped. He dropped his head back and closed his eyes briefly, turning slowly as Alice approached. ‘What now?’
Alice blinked and pulled her chin in. ‘There is someone I am concerned about. But first, I need to ask you … when did you first meet Charlotte Redbourne?’
The doctor scowled. ‘You know very well when I first met her; when you dragged me along on one of your mercy missions, that’s when.’
‘So you had no previous knowledge of her before that day?’
Dr Harland’s eyes hardened. ‘No. Although what authority you think you have to question me …’
‘Charlotte was brought into hospital suffering with breathing difficulties just over a year ago, but there is no record of the treatment she was given.’ Alice paused, keeping her gaze fixed on him. ‘I presume that with those symptoms, she would have been referred to the chest clinic.’ The doctor gave a small shrug. After another pause Alice asked: ‘So you are certain that you did not treat her?’
‘If I had,’ the doctor said, his jaw stiff, ‘the records would reflect it. I’m not the only doctor who works in this department, as well you know.’
Alice gave a small nod. After a moment she said: ‘I’m concerned about an elderly woman. I would like you to see her urgently, if you can manage it. And I also think a house call might be in order for her grandson. A young boy with –’
Harland groaned. ‘Not another one of your –’ he stopped and bit his lip, most likely in an effort to prevent himself from verbalising his frustration. ‘I’ve spent most of the morning dealing with your patients, Miss Hudson.’
Alice glared at the doctor. ‘My patients?’
‘Yes! The troublesome ones that you insist on sending up here!’
Alice’s nostrils flared. ‘What do you expect me to do with them, then?’
‘I thought your job was to ensure the smooth running of the hospital,’ the doctor snapped. ‘You seem to create a commotion wherever you go.’
The flush rising from Alice’s neck and up to her cheeks evidenced her fury. ‘First and foremost my duty is to ensure that patients have the best possible chance of making a full recovery, doctor. It is not, as you seem to believe, to make your life more convenient. And if you think –’
Dr Harland held up a flattened hand in front of her. ‘Please stop speaking,’ he said. ‘If you have an urgent case, bring them up in one hour.’ He turned on his heel and dived into his office, slamming the door loudly behind him. The almoner stared at the door with a look of disbelief. After a moment she returned to Nell at the main reception and shook her head silently. The nurse returned her exasperated look. ‘Our lord and master’s finally graced us with his presence then, I see.’
Alice nodded then looked at her thoughtfully. ‘You mentioned that the doctor often goes AWOL,’ she said slowly, leaning close to the counter. ‘Do you have any idea where he goes?’
‘You might well ask,’ the nurse said, and then she gave the almoner a meaningful look. ‘Perhaps Mr Jimmy Rose isn’t the only one with secret lady friends around here. Although why the doctor would feel the need to leave the hospital to find one I have no inkling. Lord knows there are enough simpering, silly nurses up here throwing themselves at him.’
Alice pursed her lips, then nodded to the nurse and reached for her hat.
‘Come back for a cuppa when you’ve got more time,’ Nell said, as Alice walked away. ‘And make sure you bring news of that convalescence home along with you. Something’s got to give sooner or later.’ She leaned over her desk as Alice pushed on the doors leading to the stairs. ‘I’m not a miracle worker, you know.’
It is the stoutest, not the kindest, heart that is wanted … all we have to do is weather the storm as well as we are able, taking additional care to be vigilant and strict in keeping all members of the community within the bounds of duty.
(Quoted by Mr Longley in his Report to the Local Government Board on Poor Law Administration in London, 1874)
As each year passed, Alice and her colleagues’ ‘people’ skills were to be increasingly drawn upon by the medical staff, the frontiers of their work creeping ever more forward. It wasn’t until the Second World War that their contribution would be fully appreciated, however, and then officially recognised.
During the nightly bombing raids over London, the almoners were the ones who cushioned the trauma for patients bunkering down in shelters specifically built by the Ministry of Health. They helped to fill the sandbags that were to be piled up around the entrances to the hospital and taped up
