The Story of a Hospital

By Wilfrid Edgecombe, M.D., F.R.C.P., F.R.C.S.

The history of the Harrogate and District General Hospital

Of the five hutments built by the Government under the Emergency Medical Service and taken over by the Harrogate and District General Hospital after the war, it was found necessary to adapt two of them to other purposes, the remaining three being retained as wards. Hut D was converted into a supplementary maternity unit to relieve the increasing pressure on the existing maternity block, and Hut E was converted into residential cubicles to accommodate student nurses.

Difficulty was being experienced in adequately housing the gradually increasing numbers of the nursing staff, and accordingly Paddock Lodge, in Starbeck, was purchased for £8,000 and adapted as a home for the hospital sisters, transport to and from the hospital being provided for them. It has proved admirable for the purpose, but latterly, owing to senile decay, it is becoming an uneconomical asset to maintain and other arrangements will have to be made in the near future.

In 1946 the Ladies' Linen League, which had rendered valuable service to the hospital since 1924, was discontinued as being no longer necessary.