Tuberculosis sanitariums in WW2 and 1950s
Discussion
Does anyone have any knowledge/experience (hopefully not direct!) of this kind of place back in WW2 and just after?
Trying to get a picture of what kind of specialist treatment they offered and what it might have taken for a patient to be transferred there, survival rates etc.
Example that's popped up is Hawkmoor in Bovey Tracey, Devon, but I imagine they were all quite similar.
Trying to get a picture of what kind of specialist treatment they offered and what it might have taken for a patient to be transferred there, survival rates etc.
Example that's popped up is Hawkmoor in Bovey Tracey, Devon, but I imagine they were all quite similar.
I'm a bit of a history of medicine geek.
I used to work in a major cardiothoracic surgical centre that started out as a sanatorium. The usual treatments were rest, fresh air and fairly aggressive surgery up until the introduction of the triple therapy in the 1950's. https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/20/36_suppl/87...
One of the surgeons there was a renowned expert in correction of previous TB surgery.
Watch Twice around the daffodils for a gentle insight into the latter days of TB sanitoria. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056621/
SD.
I used to work in a major cardiothoracic surgical centre that started out as a sanatorium. The usual treatments were rest, fresh air and fairly aggressive surgery up until the introduction of the triple therapy in the 1950's. https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/20/36_suppl/87...
One of the surgeons there was a renowned expert in correction of previous TB surgery.
Watch Twice around the daffodils for a gentle insight into the latter days of TB sanitoria. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056621/
SD.
Thanks for this, very interesting. I'm assuming that back in the 40s people would have had to pay for treatment themselves, there was no free at point of access healthcare?
I found a contemporary diary that might be of interest, I've only skimmed it so far though: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10795...
I found a contemporary diary that might be of interest, I've only skimmed it so far though: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10795...
My mother caught TB aged 18 in 1954/55 and was in the local TV hospital.
Don't know much about it, except she had half of one of her lungs removed and was in there about a year.
From the photos it looks like it was a regular hospital except it was dedicated to a single disease, and it was in the middle of the local woodland for reasons of isolation. It is now a local secure hospital for the same reason
Don't know much about it, except she had half of one of her lungs removed and was in there about a year.
From the photos it looks like it was a regular hospital except it was dedicated to a single disease, and it was in the middle of the local woodland for reasons of isolation. It is now a local secure hospital for the same reason
ScotHill said:
Does anyone have any knowledge/experience (hopefully not direct!) of this kind of place back in WW2 and just after?
Trying to get a picture of what kind of specialist treatment they offered and what it might have taken for a patient to be transferred there, survival rates etc.
Example that's popped up is Hawkmoor in Bovey Tracey, Devon, but I imagine they were all quite similar.
My late dad caught TB in childhood, would have been mid / late 1930's.Trying to get a picture of what kind of specialist treatment they offered and what it might have taken for a patient to be transferred there, survival rates etc.
Example that's popped up is Hawkmoor in Bovey Tracey, Devon, but I imagine they were all quite similar.
All I know is that he was in hospital for around 18 months and the hospital in question, I believe, was Benenden in Kent, which was still known as Benenden Chest Hospital until the 1980's.
He suffered all his life with a weak and wheezy chest, not improved by the practice of blowing brake drums out when he was an aircraft mechanic in the FAA.
Kim
It might be a bit away from what you're looking for, but the physicist Richard Feynman's first wife died from TB in the USA in 1945, whilst he was working on the Manhattan Project. There are quite a lot of details in 'Genius' by James Gleick, and 'Don't You Have Time to Think?', a collection of his letters edited by his daughter, Michelle Feynman.
Edited by EliseNick on Sunday 6th June 11:27
My dad spent some time in Sully hospital in probably late 50s - early 60s with TB. He had a lung operation and recovered.
I had a quick look and found https://sullyhospital.blogspot.com on the subject. Might be worth a read.
I had a quick look and found https://sullyhospital.blogspot.com on the subject. Might be worth a read.
dirky dirk said:
if your quick you can still see bits of baguley sanitarium at Wythenshawe hospital
That's where I worked in the 1980's and early 90's. Massive thoracic surgical procedures done and brought straight back to the wards. Critical care was mostly reserved for the cardiac surgical patients.It was a fantastic place to work.
SD.
I used to work at Kelling Hospital near Holt in Norfolk in the Pharmacy dept.
It was an idyllically located rural TB sanatorium established in about 1903.
When I started in 1979 they still had a few ancient TB patients lurking in the wooden shacks scattered around the grounds.
We were still dishing out some fairly toxic TB meds to the long term residents, and microbial resistance to treatment was a problem even then.
We also got a few new imported cases in every now and then.
It was however by then slowly converting into a general long stay chronic illness hospital.
There is an excellent book on the sanatorium TB history written by Dr Slator the resident consultant who worked at the hospital from sometime in the 1950's.
There is a copy on e-bay. £6 well spent. I'm sure that will answer a lot of your questions.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265147414605
The Matrons office was on the right by the front door in the pic.
Not 'Hattie Jacques' by any means, but she was formidable lady who ran a tight ship and gave us a deserved rollocking or two for the nefarious drinking and goings on in the Nurses home.
I seem to remember as we had all had our TB vaccinations we were allowed to play snooker etc and associate/socialise with the patients especially in the old social club, basically a wooden hut in the middle of a field with a cheap bar. I don't want to think about the drunken hours and money we spent in there.
It was an idyllically located rural TB sanatorium established in about 1903.
When I started in 1979 they still had a few ancient TB patients lurking in the wooden shacks scattered around the grounds.
We were still dishing out some fairly toxic TB meds to the long term residents, and microbial resistance to treatment was a problem even then.
We also got a few new imported cases in every now and then.
It was however by then slowly converting into a general long stay chronic illness hospital.
There is an excellent book on the sanatorium TB history written by Dr Slator the resident consultant who worked at the hospital from sometime in the 1950's.
There is a copy on e-bay. £6 well spent. I'm sure that will answer a lot of your questions.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265147414605
The Matrons office was on the right by the front door in the pic.
Not 'Hattie Jacques' by any means, but she was formidable lady who ran a tight ship and gave us a deserved rollocking or two for the nefarious drinking and goings on in the Nurses home.
I seem to remember as we had all had our TB vaccinations we were allowed to play snooker etc and associate/socialise with the patients especially in the old social club, basically a wooden hut in the middle of a field with a cheap bar. I don't want to think about the drunken hours and money we spent in there.
Edited by peterperkins on Tuesday 8th June 17:18
I was BORN in a TB nursing home in very late 1958. My mother caught it from my fathers family (so she said...) and was sent there for the cure. Strangely, I don't remember anything at all about the place or any treatment I may or may not have received but I do have a seriously deformed chest/ribcage so I'm blaming it on that.
Wickersly Nursing Home in Gods own Yorkshire, there is (or should be!) a blue plaque to say I was born there!
Wickersly Nursing Home in Gods own Yorkshire, there is (or should be!) a blue plaque to say I was born there!
shed driver said:
dirky dirk said:
if your quick you can still see bits of baguley sanitarium at Wythenshawe hospital
That's where I worked in the 1980's and early 90's. Massive thoracic surgical procedures done and brought straight back to the wards. Critical care was mostly reserved for the cardiac surgical patients.It was a fantastic place to work.
SD.
The ducks havelong gone and so has ths big hill
My fil had a quinthple bypass there
I am in awe of the nhs its fantastic
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