Selly Oak Hospital was situated in the
Selly Oak
Selly Oak is an industrial and residential area in south-west Birmingham, England. The area gives its name to Selly Oak ward and includes the neighbourhoods of: Bournbrook, Selly Park, and Ten Acres. The adjoining wards of Edgbaston and Harborne ...
area of
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Previously managed by the
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust provides adult district general hospital services for Birmingham as well as specialist treatments for the West Midlands.
The trust operates the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Edgbaston ( ...
, the hospital closed in 2011.
History
Origins
![Kings Norton Infirmary Plaque](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Kings_Norton_Infirmary_Plaque.JPG)
The site was originally selected for the construction of the new King's Norton Union Workhouse. This was a place for the care of the poor and was one of many workhouses constructed throughout the country following the introduction of the
Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. The new workhouse, which was designed by
Edward Holmes, was built on the site and opened in 1870.
A workhouse infirmary, which was designed by Daniel Arkell to a pavilion plan and entirely lit by electric light, was built by Thomas Rowbotham of
Small Heath
Small Heath is an area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre.
History
Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman times, sits on top of a small hill. Th ...
at a cost of £45,000 and opened in September 1897.
[ It provided accommodation for about 300 patients.][
]
Expansion
A new entrance block was completed in 1902 and a large nurses' home which became known as Woodlands was completed in 1908.[ The workhouse became a home for the chronically sick known as Selly Oak House and the home and the infirmary combined to join the ]National Health Service
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 " ...
as Selly Oak Hospital in 1948.
The Royal Centre for Defence Medicine was formed at the hospital and was officially opened by the Princess Royal
Princess Royal is a substantive title, style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a United Kingdom, British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of th ...
in April 2001.
In March 2007, the families of certain injured servicemen alleged that the hospital was not treating Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
veterans properly. There were also reports of servicemen being verbally abused in the hospital by members of the public opposed to the war. Following a visit to the hospital, Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' an ...
added to the criticism by writing a complaint to the NHS alleging that injured servicemen had no dedicated ward and that they were treated no differently from "a lad who got drunk and smashed his Citroën into a tree". A report published by the House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
Defence Select Committee
The Defence Select Committee is one of the Select Committees of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, having been established in 1979. It examines the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Ministry of Defence and its associated pub ...
blamed the allegations against the hospital on a smear campaign and praised the clinical care provided to military patients.
Closure and site redevelopment
On 23 May 2010 a 'Service of Thanks' was held at Selly Oak Hospital to celebrate a century of caring and to share memories of the facility. After services had transferred to the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Selly Oak Hospital closed in October 2011.
On 24 February 2015 the Trust announced that it had exchanged contracts with Persimmon
The persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus ''Diospyros''. The most widely cultivated of these is the Oriental persimmon, ''Diospyros kaki'' ''Diospyros'' is in the family Ebenaceae, and a number of non-pers ...
for the sale of the site with outline planning permission for 650 homes.
Notable staff
*Geoffrey Gillam
Geoffrey Gerard Gillam FRCP (28 January 1905 – 15 February 1970) was a British medical doctor and consultant cardiologist who became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.
During the Second World War he was commissioned into the Royal ...
FRCP (1905–1970) was a consultant cardiologist at the hospital.
Notable patients
Those reported to have died at the hospital include:
* Simon Evans, author[ Evans lived in south Shropshire.]
* Florence Camm
Florence Camm (7 August 1874 – 1960) was a British stained-glass artist, painter and metalworker associated with the Arts and Crafts movement. Camm and her brothers, Walter and Robert, took over the management of the family stained-glass busin ...
, artist
See also
*Healthcare in West Midlands
Healthcare in the West Midlands was, until July 2022, the responsibility of five clinical commissioning groups: Birmingham and Solihull, Sandwell and West Birmingham, Dudley, Wolverhampton, and Walsall.
History
From 1947 to 1974 NHS services in t ...
*List of hospitals in England
The following is a list of hospitals in England. For NHS trusts, see the list of NHS Trusts.
East Midlands
* Arnold Lodge, Leicestershire
*Babington Hospital – Belper, Derbyshire
*Bassetlaw District General Hospital – Worksop, Nottinghams ...
References
External links
Official website, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust
Selly Oak Hospital free-to-view archive picture gallery of the hospital before demolition
{{authority control
Defunct hospitals in England
Hospitals in Birmingham, West Midlands
Residential buildings completed in 1872
Hospital buildings completed in 1897
Selly Oak
Poor law infirmaries