Board of Management Minutes: May 1885 – Jul 1894 NHNN/A/4/4
The Secretary reported further concerning the arrangements for the Ceremony of Opening the New Hospital, and that HRH the Prince of Wales had fixed Sunday 4th July for the purpose. It was agreed that the Chairman, the Trustees, the senior member of the Board, the two senior members of the Medical Staff and the Secretary be representatives of the hospital to receive the Prince and Royal Visitors in the Board Room and that the remaining members of the Board and of the Medical Staff be requested to receive other distinguished visitors elsewhere, the general arrangements for the day to be left in the hands of the Secretary and General Director.
Medical Committee Minutes Jan 1900 – Nov 1912 NHNN/A/9/2
With respect to the letter to the Governors, which owing to unavoidable delays had not yet been sent, a letter dated May 26th 1900 from the Secretary Director to Dr Ormerod was read (being a reply to a request by Dr Ormerod to be supplied with an official list of Governors for the use of the Medical Committee.) To this it was decided to reply that, as the Hospital is a public charity, the Medical Staff, as well as the public in general have a right to know the names of the Governors of the Institution.
Matron’s Reports NHNN/N/3/1
Cicely U Tafe – reports from 21 May 1929 to 22 May 1945
‘I should like to bring before the notice of the Board the very unsatisfactory and inadequate means at present available in the Theatre for the sterilization of bowls and water for lotions. During operations it is necessary to have an unlimited supply of boiling water, cold sterile water and sterilized utensils. We have a sterilizer for the instruments, one small sterilizer for glass syringes and delicate instruments and a large one for the drums containing dressings. At present all the bowls have to be put in the large sterilizer over night and baked, a most unsuitable process. Water is boiled up in enamel jugs the evening before the operation, covered and left to get cold. At the operation, boiling water is obtained from the instrument sterilizer, as this contains Soda Bicarbonate it should not be used for purposes of irrigation. In addition it so lowers the water in the sterilizer that I am not satisfied that the instruments are properly boiled up between the operations. This is a most serious matter and I do earnestly ask the Board to consider the question of installing some new sterilizers when the Theatre is closed for cleaning in the autumn. The surgical work is increasing and to be efficient we require a sterilizer in which to boil the bowls, a sterilizer for hot water and one for cold. As the space is so limited this would necessitate moving the large dressing sterilizer into the basement, where this is quite a suitable place for it.’
Matron’s Reports NHNN/N/3/2
‘Mrs Gordon Canning very kindly offered a flat at Sandwich Bay for the use of the nurses at Easter and Whitsun. This was most gratefully accepted and much appreciated.’
On This Day is a diary of day to day life in the Hospital covering 1859-1946.
Extracts are taken from the staff records, letters, the reports of the Matron and the Lady Superintendent, and the minutes of the Board of Management and the Medical Committee. They were compiled with the help of Janet Townsend, Frankie Alves, Louise Shepherd and Michael Clark.