Frenchay Hospital
Frenchay Hospital main entrance
July 2014
There was a campaign to save the hospital that was started back in 2003, with 79% of residents rejecting the closure the hospital. Services have now been transferred to the upgraded Southmead hospital in Bristol.
The site is being turned into houses although some parts will remain such as the Brain Injury Rehabilitation unit, the Burden Centre and the Clic Cottage. Frenchay Park House which is being used as Trust Headquarters as well as the adjacent stable block will remain but is due to be sold off separately. There is also a promise of a 60-70 bed sized community hospital being created on a 6 acre patch that has been identified.
The area that Frenchay Hospital stands on (70 acres of land) was sold to the Corporation of Bristol in 1921 and for the next ten years it then became a children's TB hospital - Frenchay Park Sanatorium. In the late 1920s it was deemed that it was too small for all its patients, so, in 1931, five purpose built buildings were built, two ward pavilions, a treatment block, an admissions and observation block and a school. The estate so remained until 1940, but did also include a farm, which grew food for the children.
In the late 1930s the Government feared that there would not be enough hospital beds to house the estimated casualties should the expected war break out. As such an emergency hospital was planned for the estate, with construction starting in mid 1940. Eventually 15 wards and supporting facilities were built, only to remain empty because the number of casualties was fewer than had been feared. In the meantime the children remained in their buildings. The US soldiers started to arrive in Britain in the 1942. As a form of reverse "Lease Lend" the emergency buildings were handed over to the US military and the first US troops arrived at the hospital in May 1942. As the amount of US soldiers grew, the hospital was extended by 15 wards and supporting departments. The hospital was known as the 298th General Hospital, United States Army. The Americans stayed until August 1945, when the whole of the site, including all the US equipment, was handed to the British.
Before the war it pioneered electroencephalograms to monitor brain activity. More controversially, it conducted the first lobotomy in Britain in 1941 and later used electroconvulsive therapy.
Frenchay’s A&E department served a large part of the south wests air ambulances. I remember on occasions 3 landing in one day. In more recent years Frenchay’s reputation grew and became well respected in the fields of burns and neuro-surgery.
There was a campaign to save the hospital that was started back in 2003, with 79% of residents rejecting the closure the hospital. Services have now been transferred to the upgraded Southmead hospital in Bristol.
The site is being turned into houses although some parts will remain such as the Brain Injury Rehabilitation unit, the Burden Centre and the Clic Cottage. Frenchay Park House which is being used as Trust Headquarters as well as the adjacent stable block will remain but is due to be sold off separately. There is also a promise of a 60-70 bed sized community hospital being created on a 6 acre patch that has been identified.
The area that Frenchay Hospital stands on (70 acres of land) was sold to the Corporation of Bristol in 1921 and for the next ten years it then became a children's TB hospital - Frenchay Park Sanatorium. In the late 1920s it was deemed that it was too small for all its patients, so, in 1931, five purpose built buildings were built, two ward pavilions, a treatment block, an admissions and observation block and a school. The estate so remained until 1940, but did also include a farm, which grew food for the children.
In the late 1930s the Government feared that there would not be enough hospital beds to house the estimated casualties should the expected war break out. As such an emergency hospital was planned for the estate, with construction starting in mid 1940. Eventually 15 wards and supporting facilities were built, only to remain empty because the number of casualties was fewer than had been feared. In the meantime the children remained in their buildings. The US soldiers started to arrive in Britain in the 1942. As a form of reverse "Lease Lend" the emergency buildings were handed over to the US military and the first US troops arrived at the hospital in May 1942. As the amount of US soldiers grew, the hospital was extended by 15 wards and supporting departments. The hospital was known as the 298th General Hospital, United States Army. The Americans stayed until August 1945, when the whole of the site, including all the US equipment, was handed to the British.
Before the war it pioneered electroencephalograms to monitor brain activity. More controversially, it conducted the first lobotomy in Britain in 1941 and later used electroconvulsive therapy.
Frenchay’s A&E department served a large part of the south wests air ambulances. I remember on occasions 3 landing in one day. In more recent years Frenchay’s reputation grew and became well respected in the fields of burns and neuro-surgery.
First visit
Subsequent visits
