Wartime nursing at Swandean Hospital in Worthing was an interesting time

Readers are being asked for help with research into nursing at Swandean Hospital in Worthing during wartime.
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Huw George has been looking into his late mother’s nursing career and is hoping people can help him find out more.

Mair Eluned Rees from the Swansea Valley in South Wales was desperate to be a nurse and answered an advertisement in the Nursing Times.

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Mr George said: “She secured a position at Swandean Hospital as a probationer nurse. She started work in 1939 and was still there in April 1940.

Night staff at Swandean Worthing, April 16, 1940Night staff at Swandean Worthing, April 16, 1940
Night staff at Swandean Worthing, April 16, 1940

“My mother would vividly recollect the hospital being strafed by German fighters, with the planes being so low she could clearly see the pilots inside the cockpit.

“She thought this a little ironic, as the hospital housed some German prisoners of war. These prisoners she said had had their boots taken from them to stop them escaping!

“She also recollects seeing troops marching through the streets of Worthing and was so distracted, she fell off her bike, much to their amusement.

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“With the threat of invasion looming, her parents encouraged her to return to South Wales to continue her studies.

Swandean Hospital, Worthing. Picture: Stephen GoodgerSwandean Hospital, Worthing. Picture: Stephen Goodger
Swandean Hospital, Worthing. Picture: Stephen Goodger

“I have a photograph dated April 19, 1940, annotated Swandean night staff and my mother is standing back right.

“Another photograph shows nurses Naughton and Geraghty with my mother standing between them, while another shows nurse Connolly to the right of my mother.

“Are any readers aware of any archive material for the hospital at Swandean? Nurses training records? Photographs or reminiscences? I would be grateful of any help to further my research into her time at Swandean Hospital.”

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Email [email protected] and do not forget to let us know, too, by email to [email protected].

Mair Eluned Rees, left, with Nurse M. ConnollyMair Eluned Rees, left, with Nurse M. Connolly
Mair Eluned Rees, left, with Nurse M. Connolly

We have previously published a photo from our archives showing Swandean Hospital, in Arundel Road, Durrington.

It showed the isolation hospital, which first opened at the end of the 19th century but later became a geriatric unit after the foundation of the NHS in 1948.

Following publication of this picture from the past on April 21, 2016, Peter Cole, of Offington Gardens, Worthing, wrote in with his own memories of when he was a patient at Swandean in the early 1950s, and likened it to hospitals in Switzerland.

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He said: “The picture showed one of the isolated wards in the grounds of Swandean Hospital. As stated, Swandean became a geriatric unit under the new NHS in 1948 but it was not entirely geriatric.

Mair Eluned Rees, centre, with Nurse Naughton and Nurse GeraghtyMair Eluned Rees, centre, with Nurse Naughton and Nurse Geraghty
Mair Eluned Rees, centre, with Nurse Naughton and Nurse Geraghty

“I was a patient at the hospital for three months in early 1952, aged 17, in the TB ward, which was in some ways similar to the building illustrated.

“The TB ward was a separate building in the north area of the hospital grounds, single storey with a verandah either side of the central services section, men to the west side and women to the east.

Patients had separate rooms with double doors opening on to the verandah.

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“Beds were pushed out in all but the worst weather and patients were kept warm by ample bedding and hot water bottles.

“At this time the treatment for pulmonary TB was still complete bed rest and fresh air, similar to sanatoria in Switzerland, but in conjunction with the new drug streptomycyn.

“The unit was in the charge of Sister America under the supervision of Mr Thomson-Evens at Worthing Hospital.

One of the isolation wards in the grounds of Swandean HospitalOne of the isolation wards in the grounds of Swandean Hospital
One of the isolation wards in the grounds of Swandean Hospital

“With no television, patients relied on reading and the radio to pass the time.

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“It was during my stay at Swandean that King George VI died and I remember BBC programmes were replaced by suitable music for mourning.

“I do not know how long the TB ward continued at Swandean but I believe TB patients were eventually treated at the converted country house at Aldingbourne.”

More than 50 years later, Worthing Priority Care NHS Trust was given the go-ahead for its plans to develop a new hospital, Meadowfield, on the former Swandean Hospital site.

This was designed to modernise mental healthcare and would replace Homefield, next to Worthing Hospital, from April 2001.

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

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