The Ethel Hedley Orthopaedic Hospital for Children was situated at Troutbeck Bridge, between Windermere and Ambleside, in the Lake District of the United Kingdom
This page does not dwell on the history of the hospital but rather my own experience
as a Registered Male Nurse making inroads into a fiercely female environment that prevailed at that time {1960's} If you want to find out more about the history google Calgarth Park. I will be interspersing my text with photographs of the staff and patients, who are probably grandparents themselves now. Some in this age are downright funny Hard to believe and some folk are incredulous But all my stories are true and I am happy to say no child was ever harmed, on my watch
The hospital housed 50 children, all school age, plus a nursery for 5 infants up to five years. We were always full and kept very busy. On the whole the place was a happy one
We had one fully equipped operating theatre, a plaster room, a recovery room. This was all upstairs on the first floor which also housed the 25 beds for girls and the Nursery. The second floor housed the probationer nurses, the Matron's accommodation and the sewing/stock room. On the ground floor we had the Kitchen and the ancillary rooms. The Boys Ward, the Staff dining room and general office shared this corridor which led to the X-ray Department, Physiotherapy and Pharmacy. The Medical Director also had her office,
We did not have a physiotherapist, a pharmacist or a radiologist on our staff
Our Medical Officer we might see briefly on a weekday as she slipped in and out dressed appropriately in her country gentleman's garb. We had visiting Orthopaedic Surgeons to operate once a month. Sir Harry Platt, former President of the Royal College of Surgeons visited and sometimes operated. The hospital had a special place in Sir Harry;s heart and played a major part setting it up after WW1 I always found it a pleasure to talk and share his views. He hated working with our Theatre Sister, and she was always in floods of tears before and after his visits. I think he preferred working with Men. On his last visit he was 85 and he operated on a little girls hip. Doing his version of a shelf operation. He was brilliant and I felt proud to be his scrub nurse. Of course, if Sir Harry was visiting the Medical Director was in full attendance, outside the Theatre
Our other visiting Surgeons came from Carlisle and Lancaster. They were lovely men and they worked hard and cared for the children. Their ward rounds were relaxed and they talked and laughed with the children explaining each step of their treatment. They established true trust and a more contented safe child, I valued and respected these men and I learnt a lot that helped shape my mind and concepts for nursing children. Not from text books but living experience
My immediate boss the Boy's Ward Sister, of many years standing resigned and up and left to manage an old persons home. The term was geriatric in those days Matron immediately promoted me to Charge Nurse status to run a children's ward. Almost unknown for a man in those days. UNDER NEW MANAGENENT
Now the gloves were off
1960 and for a decade or more after, the northern counties now united under the Generic title of Cumbria , were the quite separate entities of Cumberland, Westmorland and the most northerly area of Lancashire, known as the Furness area. The counties extended from the border region, Carlisle , the industrial complex of Workington and Whitehaven on the West Coast. South the area covered included Lancaster, where the board managing the hospital was based. Across Morecambe Bay or rather around it Lancashire continued along the Furness Peninsula
All these areas had their own characteristics, customs and dialects. They were staunchly proud of their own heritage. For a stranger passing north through each county would be confused in language as well as how closely knit each community was. Strangers stood out like by their bemused expression. This was the territory the Ethel Hedley Hospital served and this caused major problems in transport ,communications and administration. In my opinion, together with the poor, ignorant and self serving ethos within the establishment, the psychological and emotional needs of the children were pushed to the bottom in order of priorities. Contact with parents, siblings and the wider family were kept to the minimum possible. Parents were allowed to visit on one day per month, on specified weekends Saturday or Sunday but not both. There was no visiting on weekdays.. This was in a hospital where the average length of stay was two to three years, sometimes longer. The hospital was listed as a hospital school, organised and run by the local education authority and the scho ol teachers, under a Headmaster appointed to his task. The wards became classrooms at 9am The physical and care needs of the patients {now pupils} became secondary to their education. When I first entered the ward as a new member of the qualified staff,excusing my intrusion, I was curtly told by a female teacher to leave the ward immediately. I did not and carried out my task with the little boy involved. I got no support from my senior colleagues and was told to accept it as custom and practice and take it as a rule. I had to abide by their rules
I had worked in hospital schools before and the relations between nurses, doctors and teacher s were most amicable, all appreciating each others role in working together to benefit the patient. When the Sister moved on to care for the elderly, things were going to change!I don't think she appreciated a man disturbing the water and ruffling feathers. The staff room and dining room always went quiet when I showed my face. The Headmaster himself was an amenable man away from is clucking staff. With my new authority I decided to engage him in a low key chat about the overall needs of the children in my ward and the necessity for flexibility by all sides, working together to achieve a common goal. He agreed and we came to a personal understanding on how we would accomplish this And we did just that, restoring a degree of harmony in the presence of our charges. Another fractious matter was resolved at the same time after a lengthy discussion. It was also custom and practice for the senior nurses would take turns to serve the meals to the teachers and the probationer nurses were to act as waitresses . Matron had her meals served direct from the Kitchen to her flat. Things changed. I stopped the waitress service and the teachers took their turn in serving meals together with the senior nursing staff. A small thing, but it levelled the playing field. Disgruntled staff left, but most were happier because it brought us together as a team
I was more subtle with the visiting situation. Other children's hospital in the country had started to allow parents more access to their children with almost all day visiting. This needed a push by parents because whilst area board might be persuaded, the local education might prove more difficult. The strategy worked and though weekday visiting remained restricted ,the weekend visits changed to every weekend Saturday and Sunday inclusive. Eventually weekday visiting 3.30 until 7pm was introduced. A sound victory for common sense. Another area that gave me rise for concern was pain relief available in post operative care. Pain relief medication was limited to codeine, whatever the extent and degree of surgery. A medical director edict, and accepted by the previous incumbent of my job. I got the surgeon to prescribe a stronger medication case by case on top of the directors. This was to given at my discretion. Matron held the pharmacy keys which she made available on theatre days
That is the introduction of my earlier days at the Ethel Hedley Hospital which went on the be good ones until the dragon arrived and spoilt the peace and harmony we enjoyed. The I left t take a new challenge. Happy days would come back
