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Selly Oak Hospital

anniekei

master brummie
hi all

for the past three weeks i have been visiting selly oak hospital as my hubby is a patient there at the moment, i have had a wander round the grounds of the hospital which is due to close 2010 and chatted with the nurses and i am utterly dismayed to hear that these lovely buildings are going to be demolished to make way for yet another housing development
i cannot believe that we are again going to lose more of birminghams history, as selly oak was the kings norton workhouse when it first opened. western road workhouse has gone and all that remains there is the archway of tears and that is in a very sorry state, when will it all stop

utterly dismayed

regards anniekei:shifty:
 
Gosh, you've been busy clicking away anniekei :)....Thanks for the great photo's of that beautiful building. It's so sad.

Florence :(
 
I am glad you missed out the modern carbuncle additions. They are an important part of the hospital but certainly eyesores. ( They call themselves Architects!). It is a pity they cannot convert the buildings to other uses. Great Pics .Keep them safe for the future.
 
I know it a shame to lose these buildings,but some of them bring back unhappy memories,and as something has to give way for progress,i have seen photos of the new Queen Elizabeth hospital its a marvelous building something had to be demolished to make way for that.....its called progress:)

Mau-reece
 
I remember and indeed was involved in the transfer of acute services from The General Hospital to SellyOak and the Queen Elizabeth Hospitals in the mid 90s. Such was the anticipated public outrage of the beloved General being closed the then health authority decided the Children Hospital would be relocated there. The original plan was to build a new childrens hospital on the QE site though this was abandoned on the basis of cost. Such were the enormous costs of reshelling the entire General the total costs were similiar to a new hospital being built. The Five ways site was sold for an absolute fortune to developers but because the hospital frontage was a grade 2 listed building it had to be preserved.
It is all to with health service politics just as the demolition of Selly Oak is now. No one can doubt the centralisation of services is to the benefit of patients and the concept of one huge site is exciting.
Selly Oak does not have the the same attraction as the General did and many, including myself feel that though fabulous work is done there the buildings are no longer fit for purpose. Of course we lament the passing and demolition of Birminghams History but the reality is patients demand 21st century care, something increasingly difficult in 19th century accomodation. I have worked as a senior nurse at the Childrens, the QE and Selly Oak Hospitals and from a management perspective the latter hospital was the most difficult. This is just my perspective on things so no hate mail please.
 
hi johndavies
i do agree with you about the new hospital (super hospital) as it is being called, however i would find it a daunting prospect to be on one of the wards, the towers as they are called are the wards and contain 74 beds per wards, is this not a modern day workhouse i ask myself, progress they say lets just wait and see, you cannot fault the care that patients get in both the QE and selly oak, it is the staff that make a hospital super, its just a pity they could not use the old buildings for something else instead of demolition
best wishes anniekei
 
Hi annieker
You make a very important point about the staff making a hospital special. I remember the ambience of the General and Chidrens Hospital so well.
I havent read about the 74 bedded wards, such a ward would be impossible to manage as a single unit. It may well be a speciality has that number of beds but I would have thought it would be subdivided into smaller units each managed by a ward manager(sister in old fashioned language). If my assumptions are incorrect and there are going to be 74 bedded wards the QE mental health unit will have to expand to accomodate nurses suffering nervous breakdowns.
 
Building demolition and sale of the land will almost certainly be necesary to fund the present QE Building plans. I agree old workhouse buildings do hold a fascination, the Walsall Manor workhouse buildings still remain. Wouldnt it be marvellous if we could get the workhouse resited at the Black Country Museum. Though not an industrial building it was very much part of Victorian life.
 
Certainly no hate mail johndavies. Much respect to you and your fellow workers . Many of us have reason to thank you for the miracles you perform and wish to see you and the patients housed in the best of accommodation As you say NHS politics.
Not everyone , including me , do not see centralisation as the answer to everything. But that is something for the public to tackle the politicians about.
As much as I love the old QE, I know its time must come just like Selly Oak.
Best of luck in your new Workplace, the Q.E.2
 
Hi Arkrite

I am now very happily retired from mainstream health service work after 34 years of graft though I still do some consultancy work mainly to keep me "current". I now spend most of my time at our caravan in Minster Kent, a beautful hilltop farm overlooking the Thames estuary.The hardest work I do now is extricating my 16 year old Jack Russellete from rabbit holes... and saving hedgehogs as he likes to play footie with them.
 
I know it a shame to lose these buildings,but some of them bring back unhappy memories,and as something has to give way for progress,i have seen photos of the new Queen Elizabeth hospital its a marvelous building something had to be demolished to make way for that.....its called progress:)

Mau-reece

I didn't know that Selly Oak Hospital was closing.
Is there going to be a new QE on the site?
I would appreciate being brought up to date.
Thanks.

ladywood
 
:(hi ladywood
selly oak will be closing next year and everything will be transfered to the new hospital, sadly selly oak hospital is to be demolished to make way for a new housing development, hope this clears things up for you
best wishes anniekei
 
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