The Nurses Residence.

Early staff

In the early years the hospital was largely run by staff who lived on site and worked very long hours. A Medical Superintendent was in charge with just four other doctors known as assistant medical officers, along with 170 nurses and attendants and 18 administrative staff. Hospital records show that the working week was reduced from 87.5 hours to 79.5 (!) hours in 1901 and an additional five attendants were employed as a result

An Extract from Margaret’s story from Staff Recollections.

I lived in residence 1, in the middle of the main hospital.There were steps just outside the entrance door and certain male long stay patients would sit there sometimes relieving their sexual frustration ( sorry to be indelicate). Occasionally one of them would even leave a turd on the floor. Once, my boyfriends parents, his brother and girlfriend, came to visit from Morley. They hated me anyway, but his mother nearly had a fit on seeing one of these unfortunately displayed deposits! It gave her more fuel to dislike me at the time but eventually we split up anyway.

At this time, in residence 1, was Janice Hardy, an aide from Norwood ward I think. She was nice but I have no photo. A girl called Tina Harris lived there, we were on the SEN(M) course together. There was a girl called Susan Douglas who I used to drink tea with and talk to, and somewhere, I have a photo of her. I’ll try to send it. The photo is a timed photo lit only by the light of her cigarette. There was a girl called Gloria Symms, but I have no photo although we were friends. I do not know were any of them are now.

The in house resident staff used to congregate in the cafeteria in the evening and often in the social club. I was never one for the social club much but did hang around with Robert and Zalisha, Kamla and Francis, Gloria, Susan.

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