IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): H41/HG
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: HITHER GREEN HOSPITAL
Date(s): 1897-1976
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 7.15 linear metres
Name of creator(s): Hither Green Hospital | 1957- x Park Hospital | 1897-1957
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The Park Hospital, Hither Green, was opened as a fever hospital on 8 November 1897 by the Metropolitan Asylums Board. It was one of five new fever hospitals built by the Metropolitan Asylums Board in the 1890's in response to the rapidly growing numbers of patients seeking admission to its fever hospitals which had now been disconnected from the poor law and where treatment was provided free of charge. In 1930 on the abolition of the Metropolitan Asylums Board all its hospitals and other responsibilities were taken over by the London County Council, who continued to run Park Hospital as a fever hospital with, in 1939, an authorised bed complement of 632. In 1948 Park Hospital became part of the National Health Service under the control of the Lewisham Group Hospital Management Committee of the South East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. Its name was changed to Hither Green Hospital in 1957.
In September 1953 the hospital was visited by King Edward's Hospital Fund for London, who prepared a brief report on the hospital (ref.: A/KE/735/36) which by now had been reduced in size to 500 beds. The King's Fund Visitors described it as "a fever hospital which is now used to a limited extent for medical and skin cases. It also has a ward for tonsil and adenoid operations. All the patients, except the latter, came through Emergency Bed Service. There is no waiting list. The wards are the usual airy, if rather bleak, fever hospital wards. They have a number of poliomyelitis cases in the hospital and are endeavouring to build up a poliomyelitis unit. They treat the patients from the acute stage right through to their rehabilitation for which purpose an orthopaedic surgeon and a physiotherapist attend the hospital".
On the reorganisation of the NHS in 1974, Hither Green Hospital, by now described as an acute hospital, became part of the Lewisham District of the Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham Area Health Authority (Teaching). On the abolition of area health authorities in 1982 it became the responsibility of Lambeth and North Southwark Health Authority.
By September 1992 the hospital had come under the control of Guy's NHS Trust. Only part of the hospital was still in use, for elderly patients and psychiatric cases.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of Hither Green Hospital, 1897-1976, including case notes, registers of admission and discharge, creed, post-mortems, operations, and casualties; records of staff service and conduct and Chaplain's records.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
The records are arranged as follows: B = Patient records, C = Staff records, G = Chaplain's records.
Conditions governing access:
These records are open to public inspection, although under section 5(4) of the 1958 Public Records Act administrative records are closed for 30 years and patient records for 100 years.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright: Depositor
Physical characteristics:
Fit
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
The hospital's archives were stored in a disused ward block due at some stage to be demolished leading to the decision to deposit them in a record office. The archives included patients' case notes dating from 1930-1957 and occupied over 200 feet of shelf space. It was decided these could not be taken but the London Metropolitan Archives does hold the case registers from Hither Green Hospital dating from 1899 to 1961, and the admission and discharge registers for 1897-1916.
Immediate source of acquisition:
ACC/3523, ACC/3502
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Date(s) of descriptions: February 2009