Forthampton Court in the village of Forthampton, near Tewkesbury, was used as a special hospital for convalescent officers from the end of 1917. At that time officers were usually of higher social class than ordinary soldiers, so they were treated in conditions which reflected their status. Unlike the other Red Cross hospitals, there were no V.A.D. nurses or other volunteer staff. Apart from a small medical team, the hospital was staffed by the existing roster of employed servants and run in the manner of a country house.

Forthampton Court was the home of the Yorke family, who undertook the running of the hospital themselves. Their young son Henry later became a novelist under the name of Henry Green.

Date of opening—November 1st 1917

No. of beds

Admissions since opening to February 18th 1919

Deaths

Average number of resident patients daily

Average number of days each patient was resident

20

104

5

1918
16.65

51

OFFICERS

Commandant and Matron: The Hon. Mrs Vincent Yorke

Medical Officer: Dr W. L. Liston

Hon. Secretary : Miss E. Steward

NOTE BY THE COMMANDANT

This hospital of 20 beds was in the nature of an experiment, the idea being to preserve, consistently with the patients' welfare, the character of a private country house. No V.A.D.s were employed, all the housework being done by the ordinary staff of servants with the addition of two orderlies.

The Matron (who also acted as Commandant) had a trained sister, Miss Symes, with whom she shared the surgical and medical work, and received valuable assistance from Miss E. Steward, who undertook all the Secretarial work. Dr Liston, of Tewkesbury, acted as Medical Officer, and was most attentive to the work of the hospital.

Cases of all sorts were admitted, massage and electric treatment were given at Naunton Park Hospital, Cheltenham.

The patients were mostly convalescent when admitted, and nearly all did very well.

Some difficulty was experienced in the early stages with regard to the discharge of patients, the tendency being to leave them here longer than was necessary. A considerable improvement in this respect occurred later.

It may be of interest to record that the accounts during the whole period of 16 months, after crediting the Government grant and an amount equal to the ordinary expenditure of the household, showed a loss of only £141.