Nottingham Children's Hospital
Nottingham Children's Hospital was founded as a charitable institution in 1869 by public subscription, with the aim of providing 'for the reception, maintenance and medical treatment of children of the poor under ten years of age'. Its official title was the Free Hospital for Sick Children but it was also known as 'St Lucy's', as the first nursing staff were recruited from the Sisters of St Lucy.
Its first home was Russell House, Postern Street, Nottingham, a property presented by the daughter of the architect, T.C. Hine.
New wing at Nottingham Children's Hospital, 30 Apr. 1927 [MS 576/12]
Ward on the new wing at Nottingham Children's Hospital, 30 Apr. 1927 [MS 576/13]
Despite the additions of a new wing and an isolation block, the property was soon found to be inadequate and, in 1899, the hospital moved to Forest House, Chestnut Grove, off Mansfield Road, to accommodation given by the lace manufacturer, Thomas Birkin. A new wing was opened by H.R.H. Princess Mary, Viscountess Lascelles, in 1927.
In 1978, the Children's Hospital closed and its occupants became the first in-patients of University Hospital, Queen's Medical Centre.
Operating theatre at Nottingham Children's Hospital, 1927 [MS 576/10]
Records
Official records of the Hospital
Records from the Nottingham Children's Hospital were transferred to the University by Nottinghamshire Area Health Authority (Teaching) South Nottingham District upon the closure of the Children's Hospital in 1978. Further small accruals were made at various times up to 1995.
The catalogue of the
Nottingham Children's Hospital collection (Uhc) is available on the Manuscripts Online Catalogue.
The collection is primarily concerned with the management and administration of the institution. There is a full set of Board of Management Committee minutes from 1869 to 1948, and other committee minutes dating up to 1978. Series of accounts and financial papers include income and expenditure accounts (1930-1972) and wages and salaries registers (1928-1977). There are also inventories and other papers relating to stock (1944-1976), plans of parts of the hospital (1939-1974), staff records (1929-1976), and records relating to nurses' training at the hospital (1940-1971).
Printed Annual Reports of the hospital are present for the years 1926-1948, and there is a series of photographs.
Patient and clinical records have, unfortunately, not survived for the nineteenth century. The collection includes admissions and discharge records (1926-1976), operations registers (1922-1973), and nursing and ward reports (1943-1976). Since access to patient and clinical records is restricted due to the confidential information they contain, the majority of these last records cannot normally be presented to users without special permission.
Administrative records, post-1948
Records of Nottingham No. 1 Hospital Management Committee (1948-1970), Nottingham University Hospital Management Committee (1970-1974), and Nottinghamshire Area Health Authority (Teaching), South Nottingham District (1974-1982). (Uh)
In 1948, Nottingham Children's Hospital was placed under the governance of the Sheffield Regional Health Board and the Nottingham No. 1 Hospital Management Committee. The Committee became the Nottingham University Hospital Management Committee in 1970, and in 1974 the Nottinghamshire Area Health Authority (Teaching), South Nottingham District. The Nottingham Health Authority was formed in 1982. Minutes and other administrative records of the Nottinghamshire Area Health Authority (Teaching), South Nottingham District and its predecessors, 1948-1982, record decisions which affected Nottingham Children's Hospital. A full catalogue of these records (Uh) is available through the Manuscripts Online Catalogue.
Fundraising records
Records of the Nottingham and District Health Fund; 1899-1948 (Nh)
Nottingham Children's Hospital was one of the local hospitals which benefited from the collections of the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Hospital Saturday Fund, formed in 1873. In 1938 the Fund changed its name to the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Hospital Saturday Contributory Fund. Contributors received free medical care from the hospitals involved. In 1948 the terms of reference of the Fund changed, and the name altered to the Nottingham and District Health Fund. Minutes and financial records of the Fund, 1899-1948, provide details about the Fund and its contributors. A full catalogue of these records (Nh) is available through the Manuscripts Online Catalogue.
Records in other collections
Bibliography
- Crothall, Lucia (1978). Let's begin with the children : a history of Nottingham's Children's Hospital, 1869-1978. Nottingham: 1978 [Uhc/Pr 20; King's Meadow Campus East Midlands Collection Pamphlet Not 4.L27 CHI]
- Iliffe, R. and Baguley, W. (1975). The Childrens Hospital. Victorian Nottingham : a story in pictures, 14, [91]-100 [King's Meadow Campus East Midlands Collection Oversize Not 3.D28 ILI]
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