The following are extracts from the Statutes and Rules of the Dorset County Hospital, published in 1897. The rules are bound in with the annual reports 1895-1909 held at the Dorset History Centre (reference NG/HH/DO(C)/2/1/1).

Rule 93, page 19:

No books or publications shall at any time be admitted into the Hospital, for the use of patients, without the permission of the Chaplain, except devotional books for any patient upon his or her request, such books to be used solely by the patient making the application.

Rule 104, page 20:

The nurses and servants shall obey the Matron as their mistress, and, in the wards, the House Surgeon as their master in all that concerns the comfort and well-being of the patients.

Rule 129, page 24:

All patients who shall be discharged cured, or greatly relieved after severe illness, shall be enjoined by the Chairman to return thanks to Almighty God in their respective places of worship, and a printed form shall be given them at the time of their discharge to be presented to their respective Ministers for that purpose.