Milford Hospital

Milford Hospital
Established	1911
Opened	1928
Closed	1927
Demolished	2014
Current Status	Demolished
Building Style	Cottage Plan
Location	Milford
Alternate Names	Surrey County Sanatorium Milford Sanatorium

History

The Surrey County Sanatorium was officially opened on 20th July 1928 by the Rt Hon. Neville Chamberlain, Minister of Health, accompanied by E.J. Holland, Chairman of the County Council and Arthur Spurge, Chairman of the Public Health Committee. The entire hospital had cost £155,000 to build, although many of the fixtures and furnishings were provided by public subscription or private donations. Dr R.J. Allison was appointed first Medical Superintendent and Miss F.H. Hall the first Matron: May 1929, the hospital was at full capacity and a waiting list system was put in place. By the 1930s, Milford was achieving excellent results in treating Tuberculosis: at this time, treatment consisted of medication, fresh air, good nourishment and progressive exercises. This was reflected in the design of Tattle's wards, which were light, airy and well ventilated and in the landscaped grounds, which were laid out with specimen trees to make the patients' excercises as pleasant as possible. Another reason for the success of Milford was the programme of rehabilitation and occupational therapy given patients after treatment: horticultural and agricultural training were given on the hospital estate which included a 2½ acre orchard, piggeries and market gardens providing food for the hospital kitchens.

In 1938, a small operating theatre was added to the existing X-Ray and Pathology departments. At this time, pulmonary surgery was in its infancy, but by 1940, important advances had been made in thoracic surgery, which assisted by radiology, helped reduce infection and repair lung damage. After the war indicence of TB declined significantly with improvements in public health: Universal B.C.G. immunisation was introduced in 1953 and by the 1960's Rifampicin and other anti-TB drugs meant treatment could usually be carried out without resorting to invasive surgery. Milford has also had a longstanding relationship with radio and television: the hospital was one of the first to have bedside radio receivers provided to all beds and in the late 1940s two patients, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson met there for the first time. Galton and Simpson established a small studio 'in a laundry cupboard in F Ward' and wrote their first comedy radio scripts there. The pair would later become famous for programmes such as Hancock's Half Hour and Steptoe and Son. Later, in 1969 the hospital was used in filming the Doctor Who serial 'Doctor Who and the Silurians' starring Jon Pertwee. During the later post-war period, the hospital was renamed Milford Chest Hospital and widened its focus to include other pulmonary and thoracic conditions such as lung cancer as TB became increasingly rare. In January 1980, the Hospital's Department of Thoracic Surgery was transferred to the Royal Surrey County Hospital at Guildford.

In 1985, the hospital was redesignated as a geriatric hospital: the existing buildings were refurbished and new wards replaced two of the original hospital wings to the northeast. The remaining 1920s wards, water tower, recreation facilities, kitchens and staff housing were declared surplus to requirements in 1997 and have been standing empty since. The hospital faced repeated threats of closure throughout the 2000s, but was saved in 2010 when it was announced that it would become a centre of excellence for geriatrics and stroke rehabilitation. In 2014, work began on demolishing the derelict 1920s buildings to make way for a development of 120 new homes.

Links

Website for history of the hospital