Bethnal Green Hospital

Bethnal Green Hospital was an acute care hospital, in Bethnal Green in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England.^[1][2] It opened in 1900, and it closed in 1990.^[1]

History

Bethnal Green Hospital was initially opened as the local workhouse infirmary on Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green in 1900.^[2] The 750 bed infirmary was designed by Giles Gough and Trollope and had eleven pavilion style ward blocks.^[2] The new infirmary was built on a 4.5 acre site purchased from the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews. The site had contained the Episcopal Jews' Chapel and was known as Palestine Place.^[1]  When the chapel was demolished the clock was incorporated into the tower of the new infirmaries administration block.^[1] During the First World War the hospital became a military hospital between 1915 -1920.^[1] The London County Council took over the hospital in 1930.^[1] During the Second World War the hospital had minor bomb damage. In 1948 the NHS took over the management of the hospital which was renamed as Bethnal Green Infirmary.^[1] The hospital went through a series of changes before closing in 1990. The remaining care of the elderly patients and staff were transferred to the newly opened Bancroft Unit for the Care of the Elderly at Mile End Hospital, part of the Royal London Hospital, and now Barts Health NHS Trust.^[1] Today the site has been redeveloped by the Victoria Park Housing Association with all but the listed Administration Block being pulled down.^[3]

Notable staff

• Elizabeth Dodds, RRC(1872-1944), Assistant Matron, Bethnal Green Infirmary 1903,^[4][5] and Matron 1903–1933.^[6][5] Dodds trained at The London Hospital under Eva Luckes between 1897 – 1899.^[5][7] After her training she worked on the hospitals' private nursing staff,^[8] and as Holiday Sister and a Ward Sister until 1903 when she resigned for promotion at Bethnal Green Infirmary.^[5][9] Dodds was awarded the Royal Red Cross - First Class for her work organising the nurse training at the hospital and the nursing care of the wounded soldiers during the First World War.^[10] By 1913 Dodds had reformed nursing and nurse training in the infirmary and was reported to run ‘A fine Training School.’^[11] She was President of the County and County Borough Hospital Matrons' Association and Home Office Visitor to Holloway Prison for Women.^[10] During the Second World War Dodds lectured on home nursing and first aid for the British Red Cross Society, and was Lady Superintendent of Middlesex / 272 branch of the BRC.^[10]

References

1. "Bethnal Green Hospital". Lost Hospitals of London. 9 June 2023.
2. Higginbotham, Peter (2019). Workhouses of London and the South East. Stroud: The History Press. pp. 68–70. ISBN 9780750987776.
3. "Bethnal Green Workhouse Infirmary". www.heritagegateway. 10 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
4. Matron’s Report to House Committee, 2 February 1903; House Committee Minutes, 1903–1905; RLHLH/A/5/49, 11; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London
5. Rogers, Sarah (2022). 'A Maker of Matrons’? A study of Eva Lückes’s influence on a generation of nurse leaders:1880–1919' (Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield, April 2022)
6. Matron’s Annual Letter, No.11; Matron’s Annual Letter to Nurses, 1894–1916; RLHLH/N/7/2, No.11, April 1904, 27; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London
7. Elizabeth Dodds, Register of Probationers; RLHLH/N/1/6, 63; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London.
8. Elizabeth Dodds, Private Nursing Institution Register, June 1899 – January 1901; RLHLH/N/5/5, 58; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London
9. Elizabeth Dodds, Register of Sisters and Nurses; RLHLH/N/4/1, 242; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London.
10. "Obituary Miss Elizabeth Dodds, SRN, RRC". The Nursing Times. 41 (2): 32. 13 January 1945 – via Women's Studies Archive.
11. "'Bethnal Green Infirmary',". The Nursing Times. 9: 822–824. 19 July 1913.