Lodge Moor Hospital

The former tower at the hospital which has been converted into apartments within a new housing development.

Lodge Moor Hospital is a former isolation hospital on Redmires Road in the Lodge Moor area of the City of Sheffield, England. The hospital which opened in 1888 and closed in 1994 initially treated Smallpox but soon broadened its treatment to other infectious diseases and in its latter years expanded to provide more general nursing, notably spinal injuries and chest medicine.

History

Lodge Moor hospital was erected as a result of the Sheffield smallpox epidemic of 1887-1888. Despite the increasing number of vaccinations, the disease remained virulent and the one way of keeping it in check was to isolate those with the disease from the healthy members of society. With this in mind Sheffield Corporation sought permission of the Local Government Board to borrow £12,000 to build an isolation hospital. The Board granted the request and the Council appointed the building contractors W. Bissett & Sons to build the hospital on an area of rough moorland called Lodge Moor on the western outskirts of the city. The hospital was built at the high altitude of 280 metres (919 feet) above sea level as it was thought that this would give the necessary fresh air to patients.

The smallpox epidemic stressed the importance of building the hospital quickly and a working party of 300 men were set to work around the clock, within two months twelve wards had been erected to house 156 patients. Each of these wards were made from wood and were viewed as just temporary structures, they could accommodate ten patients and had a composting toilet, storeroom and a bedroom for a nurse. In 1892 the first stone wards were built although it would be 1935 before the temporary wooden huts would be demolished. By the turn of the century the diminishing number of smallpox patients due to widespread vaccination made it possible for Lodge Moor to admit patients suffering from other contagious diseases such as scarlet fever, diphtheria and typhoid fever. Further expansion to the hospital completed in 1905 saw the addition of the six South wards, the main lodge, waiting room and the square tower which is a conspicuous landmark in the surrounding area.

The 1918 flu pandemic and the ensuing vastly increased number of admissions, severely overstretched the hospital’s capacity and it was only the assistance of voluntary nurses which allowed the regular staff to cope. By the early 1920s the hospital could accommodate 434 patients. 1925 saw a severe outbreak of smallpox and Lodge Moor was stretched to overcapacity, so much so that the nearby Redmires Army Camp was utilised as an Auxiliary Hospital for isolation cases, using staff and equipment borrowed from Lodge Moor. Redmires Camp Hospital remained in use until around 1935.

1928 saw further expansion to Lodge Moor with the central 5 and 6 wards and a separation ward built at a cost of £53,000, 1935 the North 5 and 6 wards were built and the final demolition of the temporary wooden huts which had served since 1888. By 1950 the hospital could accommodate 508 infectious disease patients, in 1953 three wards were converted to a Paraplegic Unit and in 1954 the hospital took on the role of treating the spinal injuries (from road crashes and pit and factory accidents) for the whole of the Sheffield Regional Hospital Board area.[1] In May 1956 the patients from Crimicar Lane Hospital and Commonside Sanatorium were transferred to Lodge Moor when those units were closed by the Sheffield Regional Hospital Board.[2]

1955 jet crash

On 9 December 1955 the hospital was hit by a Republic F-84F Thunderstreak aircraft of the United States Air Force. The aircraft had taken off from RAF Sculthorpe in Norfolk on an instrument training flight and had experienced a flameout, a problem which dogged the aircraft throughout its career. Despite several attempts to restart the engine, the pilot, Roy G. Evans bailed out over the Derbyshire village of Hathersage leaving the aircraft to carry on in flight and hit Lodge Moor Hospital. The aircraft hit the North 1 and 2 wards, tearing the roof off a single story cubicle ward, demolishing a corridor, ploughing 200 feet through a sanitary block, and then bursting into flames on a lawn facing the mortuary. The crash killed one patient, Mrs. Elsie Murdoch of Sheffield and injured seven others.[3]

Modern times

By 1987 the hospital had diversified, and although it still had beds for infectious diseases it also had facilities for Spinal cord injury, pediatrics, pulmonology, general surgery, urology, renal dialysis, neurosurgery as well as a day hospital for the elderly and a sports hall for the disabled. The hospital closed in September 1994 after Sheffield Health Authority decided to centralise most of its services. Infectious diseases were moved to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital while the chest and spinal injuries units were moved to the Northern General Hospital. The main hospital building including the tower has now been integrated into private residential accommodation built by the developers David Wilson Homes.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Reminiscing Around Rivelin", Roy Davey, ISBN 0 907511 46 5, Page 17, Gives history of hospital.
  2. ↑ National Archives Details transfer from Crimicar Lane and Commonside in 1956.
  3. ↑ Chris Hobbs website. Gives details of jet crash.
  4. ↑ National Archives. Gives modern history.

Coordinates: 53°22′18″N 1°34′15″W / 53.371762°N 1.570859°W