Selly Oak Hospital

Selly Oak Hospital
University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Main entrance to Selly Oak hospital on Raddlebarn Road
Geography
Location Selly Oak, Birmingham, England
Organisation
Care system NHS
Hospital type Teaching
Affiliated university University of Birmingham
Links
Website www.uhb.nhs.uk
Lists Hospitals in England

Selly Oak Hospital is situated in the Selly Oak area of Birmingham, England. Previously part of University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, the hospital closed in 2011.

History

Entrance to the King's Norton Union Workhouse at Selly Oak, showing its original decorative cupolas, circa 1910.

The first buildings on the site of Selly Oak Hospital were those of the King’s Norton Union Workhouse. It was a place for the care of the poor and was one of many workhouses constructed throughout the country following the introduction of the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. This act replaced the earlier system of poor relief, dating from 1601.[1]

The rising costs of poor relief had become a national problem and the new act sought to address this. Throughout the country, parishes were formed into larger unions with the power to raise money from rates on property to pay for the poor. King’s Norton Poor Law Union was formed from the parishes of Harborne, Edgbaston, King’s Norton, Northfield and Beoley. Each of these five parishes had individual workhouses.

These were replaced in 1872 by the new, much larger one at Selly Oak. It was built to accommodate 200 pauper inmates. Central supervision by the Poor Law Commissioners in London ensured that all workhouses were administered similarly by a set of rules and regulations. How humanely these were interpreted depended entirely upon each local board of Poor Law Guardians, who were local worthies. They were elected annually and gave their services voluntarily.

The aim of the Poor Law Amendment Act was to deny any form of relief except through admission to the workhouse. Generally it was assumed that the able-bodied poor could find work and if they did not then they should be forced to work within the confines of the workhouse. It was thought that if conditions in the workhouse were really bad then the poor would be deterred from seeking relief. However, by the late 18th century it became apparent that the majority of workhouse inmates were the most vulnerable people in society; the young, the old, the chronic sick and the mentally ill. Various Acts of Parliament ruled that separate provision should be made for children and the mentally ill. The sick poor were to be accommodated in separate infirmary blocks. These were often built adjacent to the workhouses and were the forerunners of many great hospitals of today.

Commemorative plaque recording the opening of the King's Norton Union's Infirmary at Selly Oak, on the "3rd Day of September 1897"

At Selly Oak, a separate infirmary was built in 1897 at a cost of £52,000. It was the subject of much heated debate as the original estimate had been £18,000. It was a light, clean and practical building, and generally a source of much pride. The Guardians took great care and gathered information from other infirmaries to ensure that the final design, put out to a competition and won by Mr. Daniel Arkell, was up-to-date and modern.

The Infirmary accommodated about 250 patients in eight Nightingale wards and smaller side wards and rooms. There was also provision for maternity cases. Between the two main pavilions were a central administration block, kitchens, a laundry, a water tower, doctors’ rooms and a telephone exchange. There was no operating theatre or mortuary and, in the workhouse tradition, the internal walls were not plastered, painted brick being considered good enough for the sick paupers. The workhouse and infirmary were separated by a high dividing wall and were run as separate establishments.

The population of the King’s Norton Union increased dramatically, and in 1907 extensions to the infirmary and the workhouse made provision for the growing numbers of poor people. This doubled the size of the main hospital building. The Woodlands Nurses’ Home was built at the same time to accommodate forty nurses. A small operating room was added to the infirmary.

There was a resident nursing staff of eight trained nurses and nineteen probationers who were supervised by the Matron. She also had responsibility for the resident female servants. The Steward managed the infirmary, governed the male servants, kept the accounts, ordered provisions, and recorded births and deaths. There was a Senior Medical Officer who attended three times a week between 11:00 and 13:00. A Resident Medical Officer attended at both the infirmary and the workhouse.

In 1911, King’s Norton – no longer a rural area – left Worcestershire and became part of the City of Birmingham. The Birmingham Union was formed from the unions of King’s Norton, Aston and Birmingham. The King’s Norton Workhouse Infirmary was renamed Selly Oak Hospital.

Over the next two decades facilities improved with the addition of an operating theatre, plastering of internal walls, and the introduction of physiotherapy, pathological and X-ray services. By 1929 there were seven full-time members of the medical staff, and the medical residence was built at this time.

The Good Samaritan (1961), by Uli Nimptsch, in front of the Out-patients Unit at Selly Oak Hospital

Attitudes to the poor changed gradually and measures to relieve poverty, such as old age pensions and National Insurance, were introduced before the First World War. By 1930, the administrative structure of the Poor Law was finally dismantled. Selly Oak Hospital and the Workhouse, renamed Selly Oak House, came under the administration of Birmingham City Council. Selly Oak House was administered separately and used for the care of the elderly chronic sick.

Selly Oak Hospital continued to grow, new operating theatres were added in 1931, and the biochemistry and pathology laboratories opened in 1934. Nurses had been trained at Selly Oak since 1897, but it was not until 1942 that the School of Nursing was opened.

In 1948, when the National Health Service was introduced, Selly Oak Hospital and Selly Oak House were amalgamated. Since then many changes to the site have resulted in the institution we see today.

Recent developments

The hospital closed in 2012 upon completion of the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Relocation of the first services from Selly Oak began during the summer of 2010 when its A&E department moved to the new Q.E.Hospital on 16 June and over the next 7 days Critical Care and other departments moved step-by-step the 1.5 miles to the new hospital. On average one inpatient was moved every 5 minutes between 7 am and early evening [2] On the morning of 23 May 2010 a 'Service of Thanks' was held at Selly Oak Hospital to celebrate a century of caring and this was followed by a fun fair at which staff and patients were invited to "Take a Trip Down Memory Lane", sign a memory wall [3] and contribute to an on-line memories website. The reorganisation was first planned in 1998 though it was not until October 2004 that planning approval was given by Birmingham City Council, with construction beginning during 2006.

Selly Oak Hospital was well renowned for the trauma care it provided and had one of the best burns units in the country. It was also home to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, which cared for injured service men and women from conflict zones, as well as training service medical staff in preparation for working in such areas. In March 2007, the Hospital was alleged to be not properly treating Iraq war veterans.[4] The hospital has also appeared in national newspapers with stories of servicemen being verbally abused in the hospital by members of the public opposed to the war.[5] There were also difficulties when Jeremy Clarkson went to the hospital to give gifts to the wounded serviceman.[6] A report published by the House of Commons Defence Select Committee blamed the allegations against the hospital on a smear campaign[7] and praised the clinical care provided to military patients.[8]

Sale and redevelopment

It was announced on 24 February 2015 that contracts had been exchanged for the sale and redevelopment of residential housing on the site. The site already had outline planning permission for 650 homes.[9]

Notable Patients

Those reported to have died there include:

See also

References

  1. ↑ The King’s Norton Web Site: Timeline - Poor Laws, Workhouses, and Social Support
  2. ↑ "The Big Move", April 2010 University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.
  3. ↑ http://www.uhb.nhs.uk/events/index.htm
  4. ↑ "Best treatment pledge for troops". BBC News. 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
  5. ↑ "Calls for 'military-wards' to protect troops from abuse". London: Mail Online. 5 October 2006. A badly injured member of the Parachute Regiment, in combat uniform after being evacuated from the front line and unable to defend himself, was confronted by a Muslim at Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham.
  6. ↑ Margarette Driscoll (2007-12-02). "Clarkson's hero". London: Times Online. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
  7. ↑ "Selly Oak military unit victim of 'smear campaign'". Birmingham Post. 2008-02-19. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
  8. ↑ "Medical care for the Armed Forces" (PDF). Defence Select Committee. 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  9. ↑ "Ex-Selly Oak Hospital site homes-plan contracts exchanged". BBC. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  10. ↑ Dickins, Gordon (1987). An Illustrated Literary Guide to Shropshire. Shropshire Libraries. p. 28.Evans lived in south Shropshire.
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