‘The most appalling disease one ever watched’: Medical racism at Yorke Peninsula in the mid‑twentieth century

Late on the evening of 19 May 1951, Dr Wallman, of Maitland Hospital, was called to examine a four-year-old Aboriginal boy at Point Pearce Station on Yorke Peninsula in South Australia.He diagnosed tetanus and ordered the boy be sent immediately to Wallaroo Hospital, despite the fact there were closer hospitals at Maitland and Moonta.When he heard an Aboriginal patient was on his way, Dr Clayton, the medical officer in charge of Wallaroo Hospital, left his post, drove south and waited beside the road to block the approach of the vehicle transporting the boy.Despite this, the boy was presented to the matron of Wallaroo Hospital, who refused to admit him.When Dr Clayton returned, thwarted, well after midnight, he refused to even examine the boy, who was driven back to the station.The next morning, the boy was taken to the Adelaide Children's Hospital.He died that same day.This essay explores the circumstances around a four-year-old Aboriginal boy being denied life-saving medical assistance and so condemned to a terrible death.It also examines the case of an adult Aboriginal man who died after a similar denial of service by the same hospital.Using the rich primary source material contained in the correspondence files of the Aborigines Department of South Australia, this essay finds that a decades-long dispute between the medical staff of the Maitland and Wallaroo Hospitals over the admission of Aboriginal patients had disastrous consequences for the health of the residents of Point Pearce Station.The circumstances and expressions of this dispute are presented, as is the lack of accountability for those who maintained it.The essay concludes by considering the relevance of such material to recent calls by Aboriginal people for a truth-telling process.