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 HOSPITAL HISTORIES A public meeting on 12th October 1876 resolved that a trained hospital nurse should be provided for the sick of the neighbourhood and a committee was appointed to draw up a prospectus and receive subscriptions. A subsequent meeting on 2nd November appointed a permanent committee to run the nursing home and appoint the nurses. A further meeting of subscribers on 25th May 1877 agreed that the nurses' home should be used as a Cottage Hospital. The hospital was under the supervision of a nurse-matron, with local doctors giving their services free, as was the usual custom. New wards and a kitchen were opened in 1887, and an operating room was added in 1908. The buildings fell into disrepair over the years and in 1936 the sixtieth anniversary was celebrated by a major programme of building and refurbishment. During the second world war the hospital was officially an Emergency Medical Services hospital, but was not called upon to act in that capacity. The Cottage Hospital became part of the National Health Service in 1948. Although in Northamptonshire Brackley's proximity to Banbury in Oxfordshire resulted in its being part of the Banbury and District Hospitals Management Committee, centred on the Horton Hospital. Responsibility passed to Oxfordshire Area Health Authority (Teaching) in 1974 and Oxfordshire Health Authority in 1982. Extensive refurbishment took place in the late 1980s. In 1990 Oxfordshire Health Authority, under extreme financial pressure, proposed a series of measures to reduce deficits, one of which was the closure of Brackley Cottage Hospital. Local people resisted the closure and in November 1991 the hospital ceased to be part of the NHS and became the responsibility of a charitable trust. See also: Chipping Norton War Memorial Hospital The original building which is still part of the hospital was presented by Mrs. Walford and run as a Red Cross hospital during World War I by Mrs. Daly of Over Norton Park. After the war it was run as a cottage hospital, administered by an Executive Committee and supported by voluntary contributions; there was a hospital contributory scheme until 1948. About £10,000 was raised in the 1930s to extend the original building, which had provided only sixteen beds, and one private ward. Serious cases were sent to the Radcliffe Infirmary, with only minor operations performed on the premises. A Matron was in charge of the hospital and local doctors attended the patients. By the time the hospital became part of the NHS in 1948 the financial situation was very poor. Between 1948 and 1974 the hospital was under Banbury and District Hospitals Management Committee, centred on the Horton Hospital. Responsibility passed to Oxfordshire Area Health Authority (Teaching) in 1974, Oxfordshire Health Authority in 1982 and Oxfordshire Community Health NHS Trust in April 1994. The foundation stone of Didcot Hospital was laid by Lady Glyn in 1939. It was opened during the war as a twelve bed convalescent home run by the Matron of the Radcliffe Infirmary, with a Sister in Charge at Didcot. It became part of the NHS in 1948 and was administered from 1948 by the Oxford and District Hospital Management Committee 1948-1956 and by the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre 1956-1974. Responsibility passed to Oxfordshire Area Health Authority (Teaching) in 1974, Oxfordshire Health Authority in 1982 and Oxfordshire Community Health NHS Trust in April 1994. The hospital was founded in 1886 by Robert Walter Doyne, an Oxford doctor with particular interest in eye diseases. The first hospital was in two houses in Wellington Square, principally catering for out patients, although some cases were admitted for treatment or operation. The hospital outgrew its original accommodation and in 1894 was granted a lease of the old fever block at the Radcliffe Infirmary, left vacant after the opening of the City Isolation Hospital; considerable alterations were made as patients increased in number over the next thirty years. During the second World War patients more than doubled in number, and an appeal was launched in 1945 for a major conversion. However, in the end less ambitious alterations were made, for the hospital became part of the NHS in 1948 and was able to share some facilities with the Radcliffe. The hospital was part of the United Oxford Hospitals, the Hospital Management Committee for Oxford, 1948-1974. Responsibility then passed to Oxfordshire Area Health Authority (Teaching) and then, in 1982, to Oxfordshire Health Authority. It was under the Radcliffe Infirmary NHS Trust between 1993 and 1999, and is now part of the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust. The Park has always been part of the same administration as the Warneford Hospital. In 1933 the Committee of the Warneford purchased Highfield Park, a house on the edge of their grounds, with 28 acres of land. After renovation work it housed 16 ladies who were considered to be mild or convalescent cases. In 1939 this building became the Park Hospital for Functional and Nervous Disorders, with 26 beds; a great many of the cases came from the Radcliffe Infirmary. It became a hospital for children in 1958. Rivermead was originally built as Cold Arbour Hospital and was opened in 1891 as the City Isolation Hospital; the agreement with the contractors, T.H. Kingerlee, was dated 2 July 1884.
From the original plans for Cold Arbour 1880s When the Slade Hospital was opened in 1939 it was intended to be a replacement for Cold Arbour, but the outbreak of war made this impracticable. Cold Arbour continued in use until 1954, mostly as an additional tuberculosis hospital supporting the work of the Osler Pavilion, which was on the present John Radcliffe site. The Osler took the patients who could be given treatment, Cold Arbour caring for those beyond this stage. When Cold Arbour ceased to be an infectious diseases hospital in 1954 it became a psycho-geratric centre, linked with the Cowley Road and Littlemore Hospitals. In 1956 it was taken over by Dr Lionel Cosin and renamed the Rivermead Rehabilitation Centre, combining the dual functions of a geriatric unit and a rehabilitation department for young disabled patients. In due course the geriatric aspect ceased and by the late 1960s the hospital was established as one of the leading rehabilitation centres in the country. Victoria Hospital, Thame Proposals to found a Cottage Hospital in Thame were first made in about 1892, because of the difficulties of conveying serious cases to the Radcliffe Infirmary and the need for a base for nurses working in the area. The South Oxfordshire Benefit Association had been formed that year to supply Cottage Nurses in Thame and nineteen South Oxfordshire parishes. These nurses were lodged initially at 72 Lower High Street. In 1897 Samuel Lacey purchased a small plot of land at the end of East Street and built a nurses' home at his own expense; the home was also to be capable of accommodating occasional patients requiring close supervision. It was presented to the South Oxfordshire Nursing Association in celebration of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and opened as the Victoria Nursing Home. The home was supported by public subscription and donation and by a wide variety of fund raising activities, and several extensions were made to the original building, including additional bedrooms and an operating theatre for minor surgery. By 1915 there was room for eight patients. A three ward wing was added in 1922 and two maternity wards in 1926. A motor ambulance was purchased in 1932. The hospital was known as the Victoria Cottage Hospital from 1924. It became part of the NHS in 1948 and was administered from 1948 by the Oxford and District Hospital Management Committee 1948-1956 and by the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre 1956-1974. Responsibility passed to Oxfordshire Area Health Authority (Teaching) in 1974, Oxfordshire Health Authority in 1982 and Oxfordshire Community Health NHS Trust in April 1994. |
