European-style hospital staffing regulations were unaffordable in practice

Evidence

In a revealing letter, Munib Efendi, Ibrahim Pasha’s Aide-de-Camp, wrote to Ahmed Bey, the Governor of Damascus, complaining about the problems of securing a sufficient number of these servants (hizmetkar). He said that although the army hospitals in Syria were arranged according to European regulations (Avrupa kanunu üzere) which stipulated appointing one servant per twelve patients (and one per six patients if they were segregated), he admitted that these regulations could not be carried out. The main reason was lack of funds. He elaborated by saying that there was no problem in appointing barbers for the patients, since these could always be secured from the soldiers of the regiment at large. The problem, he explained, was securing servants to cook and clean the hospitals. These had to be hired from the local population, something that obviously cost money. To cut down on expenses, he suggested the appointment of some of the “semi-disabled” (yanm sakatlar) as servants. Since these might not be able to walk, he soon realized, animals would have to be hired to transport them to their jobs, something that would entail more, and not less, expense. After waffling on in this manner, Munib Efendi was at a loss over what to do. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1139

Categorization

• DEFINE: Documents the Avrupa kanunu üzere, the adoption of European hospital regulations, and its precise staffing ratios.