Introduction

Introduction The history of Nottingham’s Hospitals has long been an interest of mine having worked in the National Health Service for thirty years in Nottingham. As a consequence, my research into Nottingham’s Hospitals began in earnest almost twenty years ago when I began looking into the history of the Nottingham City Hospital. My interest grew from the fact that I had worked previously at the Nottingham General Hospital, which was, before the inception of the National Health Service, a Voluntary Hospital (in other words it was financed entirely by charitable donations and legacies), and as a consequence had a considerable amount of history written about it. On the other hand Nottingham City Hospital had very little written about it, except a small booklet written by the late Consultant Physician, Dr. James Macfie, entitled: ‘From Bagthorpe to the City.’ Another reason for wanting to research the history of Nottingham City Hospital, was that when I began my research in 1996 I realized that in seven years’ time, in 2003, the hospital would be celebrating its centenary, and that I wanted to write a book to celebrate this fact! Rather than trying to explain the complexities of the research I went into, and the problems I encountered from people trying to put me off, saying it would never work, and trying to convince a moribund senior management of the importance of celebrating the hospitals centenary, the fact that my book was published on the 18th March, 2003, the day of the hospital’s centenary celebrations, speaks for itself The book was entitled: ‘The Peoples Hospital’ and was a co-authorship with David Lowe from the Nottingham Evening Post. This was followed by another book entitled: ‘Sawbones to Keyholes:’ The Lives of the Presidents of the Nottingham Medico-Chirurgical Society, 1828 – 2002. This was a book that began out of casual interest and grew into a book more out of accident than design. As a consequence, members of the Nottingham Medico-Chirurgical Society became interested in what I was doing and encouraged me to go on and publish my work, which was published in the same year as the Nottingham City Hospital’s centenary, 2003. Since all the events that took place in 2003 surrounding the Nottingham City Hospitals centenary celebrations, much has changed in health care in Nottingham. No more are the Queen’s Medical Centre and the Nottingham City Hospital two separate Trusts. Just four years after the City Hospital’s centenary celebrations, the Trusts of the Q.M.C. and City Hospital were amalgamated to form the Nottingham University Hospitals N.H.S. Trust. Apart from all the administrative changes that took place, and for some a change in working practices, I viewed this as an opportunity to branch out further and, to widen the scope beyond the City Hospital, by looking into the history of Nottingham other hospitals. To do this I asked if I could become the Honorary Archivist for the Nottingham University Hospitals N.H.S. Trust. With the amalgamation of the two hospital Trusts and the title of Honorary Archivist, Nottingham University Hospitals N.H.S. Trust I was given a large amount of photographs and other memorabilia that would otherwise have been thrown away. If it had been thrown away there would have been no legacy to pass on to a future generation! What has been a great boon to my research, and also to bring to the public, the history of Nottingham’s Hospitals is the Nottingham Hospitals History website and its related Facebook page. The website came about by encouragement from Mr. Martyn Belcher the Trust’s pest control officer. Who not only keeps vermin at bay for the two hospitals but has extensive knowledge of information technology and website construction. So it to him I say thanks for assisting me in further expanding the interest of the history of Nottingham’s hospitals. With the interest in the history of Nottingham’s Hospitals at a level I never imagined, and as an off shoot, the many requests for talks I receive from local history groups and societies, I still occasionally write articles that have found publication in Nottingham [Evening] Post. 1 The articles I have written, which make up this book, are articles that were published between 2011 and 2015. All the articles written in that four year timespan, reflect the current thinking of the time. For example, the article ‘The Nottingham General Hospital Twenty Years On’, which was written in 2011, is a personal reflection of my experiences of working at the General Hospital from 1980 to the time of the announcement of its closure in 1989, which begins by charting the many environmental changes that have been made to Nottingham’s Built Environment, in particular the mushrooming of large multi-storey buildings, and after an absence of 68 years, the re-introduction of Nottingham’s tram network. The second article, ‘What was so special about the Nottingham General Hospital,’ also written in 2011 is an article which I begin by asking the question: ‘What was so special about a collection of grade two listed Victorian buildings on the fringes of the Park Estate that was once the Nottingham General Hospital?’ In answering this question I refer very much to the mystique the General Hospital still has for those who once worked there, and the regal status it once held over its much larger neighbour, the Nottingham City Hospital. The third article, entitled: ‘Nottingham’s Healthcare Development was financially supported by the Tobacco Industry,’ was written in 2012, the year of the London Olympics. In this article I discuss the financing of hospitals like the Nottingham General Hospital, which, as already pointed out, before the inception of the N.H.S. in 1948 was a voluntary hospital, relying entirely on legacies and donations and its association with Nottingham’s Tobacco industry, John Player and Sons. In the opening paragraphs of the article, I widen the scope a little to discuss sponsorship of major sporting events, like the London Olympics, and the need to avoid pricking the public’s moral conscience, which it did, when it was discovered that one of the sponsorship deals signed for the 2012 Olympics was awarded to a chemical firm reputed to be responsible for the production of Agent Orange, a chemical that was used during the Vietnam War. I then go on to say, mention the words ‘tobacco company sponsorship’ and any grumblings over a chemical firm’s sponsorship deal is eclipsed by the paroxysms of rage coming from hand wringing members of the public. In answer to tobacco company sponsorship, I reply by saying, ‘the fallout from tobacco sponsorship comes mainly because we are aware of the harmful effects that tobacco usage can bring,’ This is concluded by saying, ‘turn the clock back to the early part of the 20th century and the story is quite different,’ which is where I discuss the philanthropic generosity of the Player family to Nottingham’s three voluntary hospitals in the early part of the 20th century. The forth article, an article written in 2015 and published online, entitled: ‘The Nottingham General Hospital: A Two Hundred and Eleven Years Relationship’ is an illustrated article charting the rapid environmental changes that have taken place since the closure of the Nottingham General Hospital in 1993, and the buildings that still remain, like former hospital wards and staff accommodation that have been converted into luxury apartments, and the former casualty department, which is now a nouveau cuisine restaurant. The fifth article, an article that was published on the Nottingham University Hospitals N.H.S. website, entitled: ‘A Short History of the Nottingham Children’s Hospital,’ was written after the joining together at the Q.M.C. of the two children’s units at the City Hospital and the unit already based at Q.M.C. in 2008 to re-establish the Nottingham Children’s Hospital. In this article I discuss the separate histories of the two children’s units; how one hospital grew out of the old Poor Law (Nottingham City Hospital), and how the other was established at the former Nottingham General Hospital in 1869, moved to Forest House in Nottingham’s Mapperley Park Estate, the home of Thomas Birkin in 1900, where it remained until its transfer to the Q.M.C. in the November of 1978. As both hospitals have two separate histories it should be remembered that as we are now in the 21st Century, it is hard to imagine how much progress has been made in paediatric medicine. In a 2 way, the Nottingham Children’s Hospital, Queen’s Medical Centre has it all under one roof, which until recently seemed impossible. What I have attempted, through this article, apart from discussing its history is to make people realise just what excellent facilities there now are, and how appreciative we should be of them! The sixth article entitled: “The Former Mapperley Hospital Chapel, Restorations Forgotten Building,” is an article which is focused on the conversion and restoration of many of Nottingham’s former hospital buildings and their subsequent Grade Two listed status with particular attention focused on the former Mapperley Hospital chapel and recreation hall, also a Grade Two listed building, but in an extremely dilapidated state. As you read through, apart from mentioning the restored buildings at the former Nottingham General Hospital, I pay particular attention to the restored and converted buildings that were once wards on the former Mapperley Hospital campus. I particularly mention how one section has been converted into offices for Nottingham Healthcare N.H.S.

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