Coventry & Warwickshire Hospital

I recently attended an apppointment at the new City of Coventry Health Centre on Stoney Stanton Road, to where services which had remained at C&W after the closure of the main part of the hospital have been transferred It's a smart building, seen here under construction in 2010 and yesterday morning in pleasant sunshine

It is a shame that they have now started to demolish Coventry & Warwickshire Hospital! I am proud to say that I was part of the last team to move out of the hospital and I now work in the Health Centre. It is such a shame as my Grandmother was a Matron at Cov & Warwick in the early 60's.

I have seen a few visits to Casualty at the Cov and Warwick during my early years. Then in 1970, I had a month in Philip Ward while they worked out how to screw back parts such that I could still use them. I am eternally grateful to the surgeon, the two ward sisters, all of the rest of the nursing staff, including the exchange nurses, the auxiliary nurse who even used to come in on her days off to help me eat my meals, the Casualty team, radiologists, the cooks who did a mean breakfast considering, the cleaning staff, just everybody who made it possible for me to walk out of there looking very much in one piece. The old hospital will always be in my thoughts because all of the above people were part of the second chance I had at life. I would be in a sorry state or worse had it not been for all of them. I always said that if ever I got into a mess again, please take me there. They will fix me up..

I wonder what they will do with this site? Will it stay empty like so many others? I hope they keep the Victorian part of it and that funny building bybthe ringroad.

I believe the "funny building" you refer to was the old x-ray dept. Part of the hospital (as most of it was re-built after the war), is grade II listed and it appears there is a planning application in place to build 150 houses on the main hospital site.

Is the "funny building" the one that looked like it had a dalek on the top of it?

This one ?

The Walk in Centre (picture above) and the nurses residence will stay. However, sadly the rest will no longer be around for much longer. I will take some photos and post them. I won't be hard to do as work across the road.

The funny looking building was the x-ray dept. As a child I had a few x-rays done there. The x-ray machine was like something out of a science fiction film, it used to frighten me something rotten. The staff would place you in the middle of the machine then walk away, leaving you on your own, then the machine would close in on you until you thought it might crush you then stop. X-ray taken, then it would open up again but nobody ever explained to me what was happening to stop me worrying. At least today they do treat small children different by explaining things.

The last time I was in that building was 7 years ago when a consultant diagnosed my wife with Parkinson's disease, this has completely shattered our lives and changed everything we do. When I see the building it always reminds me of that day.

Hi NormK Hi all. Like a coin having two sides, hospitals have two sides. I learned as a child that hospitals had only one roll & that was to make people better. A lot of people in my generation grew up in an era of optimism where in our minds all illnesses would be cured. The fact is, that is not the case. My dad drew his last breath in the old hospital there, in 1977. We are only human & we can only do what we can do. By its very nature, our history site here, is a window of looking back & comparing with what we have now, or at other times or eras. That in itself is a brave step for some of our members who have lost their life long partners, but I hope draw some comfort from the kinship of our membership, as I do. What ever I have done, whether right or wrong in the past, I can't change history. I just try & make sure that I am doing it right now & for my plans in the future, however long or short that future might be. The lady who collapsed & died running in the marathon was I am sure trying to do what was right & good. Who could have predicted that sad event. It was lovely to meet you when I did NormK, a few weeks ago in Bedworth & my thoughts are with you as they are with our team & members with all of the sensitive issues that they & I all have to live with. When I visited the new hospital as pictured by Midland Red as I did recently for an over sixty five ultrasound scan routine programme, I only had very peaceful thoughts regards my dad, knowing that everything that could be reasonibly done was done for him. Sometimes, sadly things do go wrong. We are only human. Most of us on here have at least one thing in common, we value life.

You summed that up beautifully, Philip.

My thoughts exactly, a really thoughtful and sensitive post Phillip. Norm K so sorry to hear of your wife's illness, we should all be thankful if we have good health.

Very wisely put Philip, makes us all sit up and think.

A real old landmark that one MR, must have passed that one a thousand or more times on the bus in our day. Could not believe it was still there. I remember sitting on the wall outside once in 1961, after having a blood test and feeling all faint. Then being told I was expecting my 'first', again - MEMORIES - brought it all back.