Medical directory
Institutions and practitioners
Early medical directories comprised only very little information. However, by the late 19th century they often included lists of:
- Medical and surgical institutions
- General and special practitioners
- Veterinarians
- Pharmacists.
Admission to hospitals
Some medical directories may also include 'regulations respecting the admission of patients' into hospitals.
Glasgow's 'Post-Office annual directory' for 1836-1837 demonstrates that patients of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary first had to be examined by medical attendants 'to ascertain that the case is a proper one for admission into the house'.
It further states that subscribers, paying an annual fee to the infirmary, were entitled to recommend patients for admission.
Only if people applied immediately after they had suffered an accident could they be admitted without a subscriber's recommendation.
