Example: dental hygienist

20th Southern aw10April - NHSGGC

2 Celebrating a proud historyThe Southern General Hospital1922 201533In 1849 the Govan Parochial Board opened a temporary poorhouse in Dale Street, Tradeston to provide for the deserving poor in the form of accommodation and medical the end of June 1849, 106 inmates had already been admitt ed. Of these, 48 were children who were regularly instructed in reading, sacred music, etc . It was anticipated that the building would house 350 inmates when fully converted from its previous use as a who were too sick to work lay in bed in the hospital whilst other inmates had to work in a variety of roles, including as volunteer nurses. Th e fi rst doctor, James Stewart, was appointed in the winter of problems in the mid 19th century were severe and varied, but much of the misery can be traced to the abuse of alcohol, oft en in the illegal drinking dens which doubled as brothels. Th e excessive use of drink led to a high incidence of crime, including prostitution, and severe mental health problems for those caught up in the spiral of poverty and alcohol the beginningIn 1849 the Govan Parochial Board inmates had to work in a variety of Th e fi rst recorded mention of the Southern General Hospital was in 1922 when the poorhouse, hospital and asylum at Merryfl ats were so renamed, but the history of healthcare in the parish of Govan stretches back at least a further 70 w

Southern General Southern General

Tags:

  Southern, 20th, 20th southern

Information

Domain:

Source:

Link to this page:

Please notify us if you found a problem with this document:

Other abuse

Transcription of 20th Southern aw10April - NHSGGC

1 2 Celebrating a proud historyThe Southern General Hospital1922 201533In 1849 the Govan Parochial Board opened a temporary poorhouse in Dale Street, Tradeston to provide for the deserving poor in the form of accommodation and medical the end of June 1849, 106 inmates had already been admitt ed. Of these, 48 were children who were regularly instructed in reading, sacred music, etc . It was anticipated that the building would house 350 inmates when fully converted from its previous use as a who were too sick to work lay in bed in the hospital whilst other inmates had to work in a variety of roles, including as volunteer nurses. Th e fi rst doctor, James Stewart, was appointed in the winter of problems in the mid 19th century were severe and varied, but much of the misery can be traced to the abuse of alcohol, oft en in the illegal drinking dens which doubled as brothels. Th e excessive use of drink led to a high incidence of crime, including prostitution, and severe mental health problems for those caught up in the spiral of poverty and alcohol the beginningIn 1849 the Govan Parochial Board inmates had to work in a variety of Th e fi rst recorded mention of the Southern General Hospital was in 1922 when the poorhouse, hospital and asylum at Merryfl ats were so renamed, but the history of healthcare in the parish of Govan stretches back at least a further 70 woman sitt ing on a box bed a typical feature in Glasgow housing during the 1800 for the poorhouse block at Merry ats in to 1845, where poorhouses had existed, these took the form of almshouses in which residents were invariably regarded by their community as respectable and had been hard-working before old age or physical disability had prevented them from working.

2 Aft er 1845, with the advent of the Poor Law Amendment Act, things changed. Parochial Boards had to balance the need to discourage scroungers by making life in the poorhouse disagreeable but also to provide help and support for the genuinely e Board of Supervision set up in Edinburgh set out rules and regulations to be adopted by Parochial Boards for their poorhouses. Th ese included prohibition of alcohol, gambling and smoking. Residents were segregated by sex and were subject to long hours of hard labour and a limited and repetitive adult inmates were punished by extra work and solitary confi nement. A report for 1862 showed that about nine per cent of paupers entering a poorhouse were dead within one year. Govan Parochial Board was set up to implement the 1845 Poor Law Amendment Act and was responsible for sett ing and collecting a poor rate a local tax on property. Th ey had an Inspector of Poor who examined applications for relief and a Governor to run the poorhouse.

3 Th ose outside the poorhouse were visited in their homes by parish doctors. In addition to prescribing medicines, the doctors could also direct that a special diet, cordials (such as concentrated orange juice) and warm clothing should be provided for the sick poor. In 1872 expenditure by Govan Parochial Board on wine (almost all of it given on the instructions of a doctor) was twice the rate of expenditure on medicines! Th is was ordinary wine prescribed to patients because it was believed to have restorative e Govan poorhouse staff included a Governor, Matron and Porter. Most work in the poorhouse including cleaning, cooking and nursing was done by the pauper inmates. Th e porter acted as a gatekeeper and ensured that contraband such as alcoholic drinks, tobacco and dice were kept out. Children att ended school for three or four hours per day, so a chaplain/teacher was needed cation of the poor and nursingTh e Govan Parochial Board and their staff were concerned that decent, respectable women who had become impoverished through no fault of their own oft en because their husbands had died or abandoned them might be corrupted by dissolute women who had been admitt ed to the poorhouse from a life of illegal drinking dens and prostitution.

4 So they segregated women inmates in two classes, each with their own dormitories, airing grounds and workplaces. Th e groups were known as women of good character and dissolute women . Th ere were parallel provisions for men, although the titles used for the groups were diff erent: infi rm men and dissolute men . Children, however, were not treated in this way, being split only between boys and girls. In the Govan Parochial Hospital patients were classifi ed as female, male or contagious. Th e women sent to nurse contagious patients were classifi ed as dissolute whilst those assigned to other patients were women of good character . Th is had a signifi cant impact on the amateur nurses chances of becoming seriously ill. Contagious diseases typhus, measles, diphtheria, scarlet fever, scabies and so forth were highly infectious and the risk to those who provided nursing care was dissolute women to care for patients suff ering from infectious diseases was also hazardous for the patients, especially during the night shift when there was litt le supervision of the work.

5 Th e night nurses were provided with wine that the doctor had prescribed for the patients and this may oft en have been consumed by the nurses themselves, many of whom had a serious alcohol problem prior to their Poor LawA Glasgow poorhouse men s in 1868 show the main entrance to the Merry ats the Glasgow Caledonian University Archives: Heatherbank Social Work Collection67 The move to Eglinton StreetThe Dale Street poorhouse was always intended as a temporary measure. In 1851, the Parochial Board agreed that they should convert a disused cavalry barracks at 220 Eglinton Street and expenditure of 8,750 was authorised. The new poorhouse stood towards the Southern end of Eglinton Street, not far from the junction with Pollokshaws Road. Much of the old cavalry barracks consisted of two-storied buildings. When these buildings were converted, the lower floors became work rooms, dining rooms, and so forth whilst the dormitories above continued to be used as sleeping accommodation.

6 Some re-modelling was undertaken to ensure that the principles of segregation were reflected in bricks and the 19th century the population of Govan rocketed. Between 1826 and 1901 the number of residents went from 30,000 to over 340,000. Most of this increase was due to migration. People were attracted to the Glasgow area because there were jobs to be had, many of them well the 1840s the most common kind of work in Govan Parish was weaving. In the northern part of the parish, around Hillhead, there were miners too. On the Southern outskirts there were farms. By the 1890s this had changed dramatically: two thirds of men had skilled or semi-skilled work in shipbuilding or to the possibility of sudden unemployment, many well-paid men chose to live in cramped tenements where they and their families were particularly likely to be infected with tuberculosis and other debilitating diseases. Whilst prudent families saved in the good times, and some even managed to set themselves up in business by doing so, many devoted the surplus to excessive consumption of the 1860s it became obvious that the poorhouse and hospital at 220 Eglinton Street was not big enough to cope with a rapidly expanding population, especially a large population exposed to periodic trade depressions accompanied by mass Govan Parochial Board agreed a plan to construct a large new poorhouse and hospital on the Merryflats site where the Southern General Hospital has stood ever since.

7 Incorporated in these plans was a new asylum that would make it possible for the Parish to care for people with acute mental illnesses on its own premises rather than send them to Gartnavel. Also included was a swimming pool in which poor boys might get beneficial exercise whilst learning to swim. When the 60,000 cost of the proposed development at Merryflats was revealed, there was an outcry from ratepayers. When the Parochial Board elections were held in July 1867 most of those who had served on the old Board were voted out and a new group, pledged to strict economy, was elected in their place. By the time that the new buildings were opened, however, it was clear that the strict economy group had spent a lot more money than their predecessors had planned for 100,000, yet almost immediately there were proposals for extensions to the buildings at Merryflats. Patients and poorhouse inmates were transferred from Eglinton Street to Merryflats in 1872.

8 At the same time a large number of psychiatric patients were moved from Gartnavel. Amongst those with illnesses or conditions for which treatment in the parochial hospital was appropriate, scabies and respiratory ailments like bronchitis were particularly common. It was common also for unmarried pregnant women who had neither mother nor sisters nearby to be admitted so that they might give birth safely. In this way, Merryflats developed as a maternity hospital. Men weaving baskets in the Occupational Workshop of a Glasgow poorhouse, the Glasgow Caledonian University Archives: Heatherbank Social Work of Highlanders and Irish flocked to the city to work in the shipyards at 1873 the recently-appointed Inspector of Poor, Mr Andrew Wallace made a report to the Govan Parochial Board on the growth of the parish and of the pauperism therein including statistics for the years ended 14 May 1864 and 1873. Th is showed that the population had increased by 40% and that the increase in orphaned or abandoned children was a staggering 157% over just nine years.

9 Merger with GovanAs a result of their careful approach to money matt ers, in 1873 the annual poor rate in Govan was just pennies (fi ve pence in 21st century decimal currency) as compared to two shillings, nine pennies and three farthings (13 pence) in neighbouring Gorbals Parish. Gorbals had a particular concentration of impoverished residents and therefore had to impose very high poor rates. High rates in turn discouraged investment in new businesses in the Gorbals. Businessmen could set up premises on the western side of Eglinton Road and pay the Govan rates instead. By the early 1870s, Gorbals was teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. So on 9 January 1873 the Board of Supervision requisitioned a special meeting of Govan Parochial Board at which it was insisted that a merger between the two parishes must take (TB), also known as consumption, was widespread in Govan between the 1850s and the 1950s. Although TB had been identifi ed as a separate disease in ancient times, it was not until 1882 that Professor Robert Koch demonstrated the existence of the tubercule bacillus.

10 It then became clear that TB was an infectious disease, spread through the sputum of those infected by the disease. Th e voluntary hospitals, funded by donations, became reluctant to accept TB cases once the risks of infection were known. So the parochial hospitals expanded to cope with them. In the years 1890-94 TB patients admitt ed to the Victoria Infi rmary were 12% of the total. By 1907 this had fallen to 5%. Merryfl ats Hospital provided some of the accommodation needed to compensate. In 1899 an extension containing 117 beds was opened. Two further extensions were built in the fi rst decade of the twentieth century. Th e measures taken, both within the hospital and in the parish outside its walls, met with some success: between 1864-72 and 1895-98 the average percentage of deaths caused by TB dropped from over 20% to below 15%.Ultimately, satisfactory nursing could only be provided if the practice of using pauper inmates was abandoned and salaried nurses were substituted.


Related search queries