Airedale General Hospital is an

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

district General Hospital based in

Steeton with Eastburn Steeton with Eastburn is a civil parish within the City of Bradford Metropolitan District, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has, according to the 2001 census, a population of 4,277, increasing to 4, ...

, West Yorkshire, England and is operated by the Airedale NHS Foundation Trust. Airedale was opened for patients in July 1970 and officially opened by the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

on 11 December of the same year. The hospital covers a wide area including

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of ...

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Ai ...

and parts of the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York w ...

and eastern

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

. As of 2021, the hospital had links for

neurosurgical Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

emergencies with

Leeds General Infirmary Leeds General Infirmary, also known as the LGI, is a large teaching hospital based in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, and is part of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Its previous name The General Infirmary at Leeds is stil ...

. The hospital provides approximately 324 beds.

History

The hospital was planned as far back as 1963 with many sites being optioned including

Silsden Silsden is a town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and Leeds and Liverpool Canal between Keighley and Skipton, which had a population of 8,268 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the haml ...

and also a site nearer to

. Building work was initiated in 1966 to a plan by renowned and then disgraced architect John Garlick Llewellyn Poulson. His later trial had nothing to do with his designs for Airedale Hospital. The original estimate for the construction of the 32-acre site was £4.5 million including equipment. In 1967, this was revised to £5 million . The hospital, with an initial designation of 650 beds, was due to open in 1969, but was eventually opened in stages starting in July 1970. Upon opening in July 1970, it was revealed that it would actually house 643 beds and have an eventual cost of £5.4 million. The maternity ward opened on 6 July 1970, after the main sections of the hospital, with the first birth being on 7 July 1970. The opening of Airedale spelt the end for some of the older hospitals in the area, namely Keighley Victoria, St Johns and Mortons Bank. These all closed in 1970 on transfer of patients to the new facility. In 1989, Airedale was the hospital that

Tony Bland Anthony David Bland (21 September 1970 – 3 March 1993) was a supporter of Liverpool F.C. injured in the Hillsborough disaster. He suffered severe brain damage that left him in a persistent vegetative state as a consequence of which the hospita ...

, the 96th and final Hillsborough disaster victim, was transferred to. Mr Bland was in a

Persistent vegetative state A persistent vegetative state (PVS) or post-coma unresponsiveness (PCU) is a disorder of consciousness in which patients with severe brain damage are in a state of partial arousal rather than true awareness. After four weeks in a vegetative stat ...

(PVS) after being crushed at Hillsborough. His parents successfully applied to the High Court to cease his feeding and allow him to die, which he did on 3 July 1993. The hospital was the scene of demonstrations by pro-life campaigners during this time. In September 2021, the hospital acquired a

British Rail Class 144 The British Rail Class 144 ''Pacer'' was a diesel multiple unit (DMU) passenger train built at Derby between 1986 and 1987. BR, seeking to procure improved derivatives of the earlier Class 141, placed an order with the manufacturers British R ...

"Pacer" train carriage after it won a competition by the Department for Transport. It plans to use the vehicle as a non-clinical communal space. As of April 2022, the hospital was said to have "the largest single flat roof" of any English hospital – around 30,000sq metres – which reportedly resulted in the "most roof leaks in the country”. It is also believed to be the oldest aerated concrete hospital in the UK, which poses a dangerous risk to its overall infrastructure.

References

{{authority control Hospitals established in 1970 Hospitals in West Yorkshire NHS hospitals in England

History

See also

References