Meetings Are Held

in the

 United Reform Church

(Opposite The Police Station)

50

The Story of the Radcliffe Infirmary

12/15/2009

Andrew Moss

We heard a well presented and illustrated talk about the development of the Radcliffe Infirmary from its Eighteenth Century beginnings as charity hospital for the very poor funded by the very rich to its final years as major unit in the NHS towards the end of the Twentieth century.

Along the way were many new, and novel, ideas tried. One of the earliest in the 1770's was the idea of "Rubber Nurses", not some type of blow-up doll but individuals whose job was to rub the limbs of patients to aid recovery. In the early days no children or maternity cases were treated. Thet introduced detailed record keeping on patients. The Shipton-upon-Cherwell railway disaster saw the hospital involved in the treatment of the injured which resulted in many lives being saved.

Wealthy benefactors helped keep up the development with one bequest funding the opening of a children's ward in the late 19th Century.  The largest single bequest was from John Brisoe who had been a surgeon for 40 years who left his entire fortune to the hospital to whoch he had devoted much of his life.

Over the years many great doctors and scientists were involved and many advances were made.

While funds from the wealthy continued into the 20th Century wit Lord Nuffield donating money for a maternity ward and nurses accomodation a 2d weekly subscrition from any workers was introduce in 1919 which provide 60% of the funds within three years.