Standish VA hospital Stonehouse |
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| Unusually for a Red Cross auxiliary hospital, Standish remained a hospital after the war and became an important local facility for the next 85 years, specialising first in tuberculosis and later orthopaedic and respiratory care. It was also unusual in that most of the VAD nursing staff were able to live on site. Built around 1830 and originally a private house belonging to Lord Sherborne, the building and its 31 acre grounds became a Tuberculosis Sanatorium in 1921. Despite a long and vigorous campaign by the local community to keep the hospital open, it was closed in 2004 and the site sold off in 2006. | Gloucestershire Red Cross Hospitals 1914-1919 |
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STANDISH V.A. HOSPITAL GLOS. 20, 28, 38, 48, 70, 72, 80, 88 final report from The Red Cross in Gloucestershire 1914-19 |
Date of opening—May 13th 1915 No. of beds Admissions since opening to Feb 28th 1918 [1919] Deaths
Average number of days each patient was resident |
130 2292 5 1915 41 |
1916 50 |
1917 56 |
1918 41 |
OFFICERS Commandant: Miss King, O.B.E. Assistant Commandant: Mrs Awdry Medical Officers: Dr W. G. Pinching, Dr G. A. B. Wallis Consultant: Dr Firmin Cuthbert Lady Superintendent: Miss Burbidge, A.R.R.C. Quartermaster: Miss M. Phillimore, M.B.E. Assistant Quartermaster: Miss Tidswell Accountant: Mr Arthur Anderson |
NOTE BY THE COMMANDANT Standish House was lent by Lord Sherborne for a hospital in November 1914, but as the house required to be put in order, it did not open till May 13 1915. This hospital was furnished by loans arranged by the detachments at Wootton-under-Edge, Dursley, Berkeley, Stonehouse, Frampton, Haresfield, Quedgeley, Painswick and Woodchester; and these detachments supplied the personnel. The theatre equipment was most of it lent by Dr Hoffman. Standish opened with 100 beds; in 1916 twenty more beds for open air treatment were added, and later ten more, making 130. In addition to the open air wards, a hut for the use of the VADs and a Mess Hut 60 feet long with stage were put up in 1917. The funds for these additions, and for other improvements such as massage and electrical equipment, were all given by the district, which from the first has supported the hospital splendidly. At Standish nearly all the staff, including a resident doctor, lived on the premises; but a good deal of outside help was given to the laundry and linen room. The laundry, which was run by VADs, aided by voluntary workers, was the greatest convenience and economy. |
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Two VAD nurses on duty in the Dursley and Painswick wards, Standish VA hospital, 1915
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| Gloucestershire Red Cross Hospitals 1914-1919 |
