Coventry & Warwickshire Hospital

Nurses Home, Stoney Stanton Road - c1903 and 2009

The part of the building looking like an inverted cone was the Eye Department, when it became C&WW Hospital. I was taken there, a babe in arms,to have tear ducts opened as they were not functioning properly. I rather think by the 50s it had become an Xray Department as I was again a patient, this time with eczema on my hands, and the treatment then was what were called 'deep xrays.' The building can be seen in this shot from Jesson St.

I know several years have passed, but a lady has contacted me with an idea on this question, so I thought it might be of interest to share it. She has learned that to place a symbol of an alligator or crocodile (based upon Sobek, an ancient Egyptian "crocodile" god) on a new building, symbolises growth & regeneration and gives the opportunity to gain wisdom and absorb knowledge. I've no reason to disbelieve this, especially as much of our heritage contains symbolism - particularly our coat of arms.

The hospital didn't suffer much in Nov 40, it lost the laundry, the medical stores, and a direct hit on the matron's quarters but she wasn't there at the time. But in April a different story. There were three theatres going, what could be saved went to outside hospitals, the rest walked to the nurses' home, laid out on stretchers, one woman taken there with stitches said "I'm not going in there with all the dead", so the nurse asked them to put their hands up to show they weren't.

To me it shows once again how beautiful that area must have been so close to the centre of the city with the trees and birds and streams, that they built beautiful buildings to go with it as Philip's photo shows.

Everyone in their Sunday best, no music, no wireless, no telephone, no children's play area, no tissues or cleansing cream, no kids moving around. In fact it was so quiet you dare not ask where the toilet was out loud, you had to whisper in mother's ear, the toilet chain so strong you had to almost swing on it. Most door handles were big brass knobs, if you ate a toffee, put your fingers in your mouth to free it, then those door knobs became sticky. Boys were seen, not to be heard, you had to sit still and quiet but it taught you patience. Only the screech of the trams outside. The photo - only the clothes had changed slightly in the thirties.

Yes, as soon as I saw these photo's I knew I had been in the place as a small child but not a patient, I also knew there was something I didn't like about them, like a darkness in my mind but couldn't think what. So after a few days it was still bugging me - I looked at some old photo's of when I was a small child, and I knew the darkness. There is my young sister, two years younger than me, sitting in the crook of my father's right arm, with a heart condition - never made her 6th birthday. Pushed around Coventry in a pram, in the carnival, helping to raise money for that very same hospital.

Sorry to hear that Kaga. I spent a lot of time in NHS waiting rooms as a child with a variety of ailments. However I once broke the silence by looking the guy sat next to my mum in the eye and announcing cheerfully 'I've got germs. Great big hairy ones!' Needless to say he moved, pretending to get a newspaper but mainly to avoid my hairy germs. Got me a seat and my mum almost had a hernia trying not to laugh.

I spent several weeks in C&W Hospital in 1950. One evening at supper time they had the radio on and there was an open back speaker above my bed. I decided to peel a jaffa orange and was throwing the peel in the air and catching it until one piece of it landed behind the radio speaker and whatever was on the radio stopped playing. I hid under the bed sheets waiting for the staff to come and tell me off, but the radio came back on saying they had a problem much to my relief.

Hello All, I'm new to this forum and it's pages. I am trying to acquire a Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital Training School for Nurses Badge from the 1980's. I was born in Coventry and have very fond memories of working in Cov & Warwick Hospital. Does anyone know where I could get the Hospital Badge from, as I unfortunately lost mine, many moons ago.

Hi All, Hope you're all safe and well during these ongoing troubled times. Just thought I'd check in and say what I remember about Cov & Warwick Hospital during my time there as there have been a few posts asking for information regarding the hospital. I worked there from 1978 to 1980. This is what I remember about the layout of wards and departments during that time. I must point out that during my time at Cov & Warwick Hospital it was a Trauma Orthopaedic Hospital. All other cases were taken to either Gulson Road Hospital or the newly build Walsgrave Hospital. On the ground floor was: Casualty - this housed a reception desk with a receptionist who took patient details, entered them into a ledger and filled out a casualty card which was placed at the bottom of the pile, one resus bed, two stretcher bay beds and seating for the walk-in patients. There was no actual triage system it was first come first served with an exception of those patients who required more urgent treatment. There were two examination stations separated by a curtain where patients were seen and examined by a doctor with an attending nurse. There was a plaster room where plaster casts were applied to patients by a plaster technician and/or a nurse. There was also an X-ray department for those patients who attended Casualty. This was staffed by a couple of radiographers during the day and one at night who also covered the whole hospital. In Casualty during the day there could be up to two doctors, two receptionists, four or five qualified nurses, a couple of student nurses, a plaster technician and a porter. During the night there was one doctor, two or three qualified nurses, a receptionist and a porter on duty for the whole hospital. Don't forget these staffing numbers were for a whole city and surrounding area's. During my time at the hospital I saw the construction of the Paybody Unit which dealt with eye emergencies, treatments and follow up. This was directly opposite the main entrance to casualty which housed a canopy for arriving ambulances which brought patients to the casualty department. Above the Paybody Unit was the new Operating Theatre Suite which I will come back to later in this post. Outpatients - this was a large hall with seating outside each consultation room. There was a nurse for each consultation room who organised the patients notes, called them into each room and chaperoned each patient. This hall lead in to the hearing aid department, the wound dressings department and tucked away at the back of the hall was the then venereal diseases department. Path-lab Department - this was accessed vis the main entrance to the hospital off Stoney Stanton Road or from the outpatients hall. Here blood tests were taken and blood products stored for the case of blood transfusions etc. Above the path-lab was medical records where all patients notes were stored and retrieved if needed for information at an out-patients consultations or a patient admission in to the hospital. In another building separate from the main hospital were a few other departments. On the ground floor of this building was the Rheumatology Department, the Physiotherapy Department, the Occupational Therapy Department and the Remedial Gymnasts. The main Kitchen for the hospital was also on this level. On the first floor was the Ante-Natal Department and the Staff Canteen where staff could get a meal for 49p - a bargain at the price. Back in the main hospital the Wards were accessed by two marble stair cases or by two gated lifts. It was reported that there was a "Grey Lady" who could sometimes be seen on the stair cases at night. Must admit I never saw her during my time there. On the first floor was Philip Ward and Elizabeth Ward. Philip Ward was for male trauma orthopaedics and Elizabeth Ward was for female trauma orthopaedics. On the second floor was Alexandra Ward and Edward Ward. Both of these wards were for female cold orthopaedics. On the third floor was Watson Ward and Smith-Clark Ward. Watson Ward was for male cold orthopaedics and Smith-Clark Ward was for children's trauma orthopaedics. When I first started working at the hospital the Operating Theatres were on the first floor of the main hospital. With the construction of the Paybody Unit the Operating Theatre Suite was moved above this and for access this was made via a tunnel from the original entrance to the old Operating Theatres. The Operating Theatres were in use 24/7 with dedicated theatre staff who worked either day shifts or night shifts. The old Operating Theatres were turned into an Intensive Care Unit which had four beds and one side room bed. Each patient had a one to one ratio with a qualified nurse 24/7 who wore theatre scrubs and all visitors to ITU had to don a theatre gown and plastic over shoes before being allowed in to visit there loved one. Hope the above is helpful to anyone who needs it. I'll do another post a bit later on outlining the routines and some of the staff I remember.

As an infant, I went there to have my adenoids removed. I think they operated at night since I have vivid memories of a nurse coming round early evening and saying to one or two of us she had a special treat for us: fairy jam! She said I'd love it, and it was magic. It looked like proper jam, but when she spooned it into my mouth, yukk, it tasted vile. It must have been laced with something to knock me out, since the next thing I remember was waking up the following day when my parents visited. Later in life, a friend who was a student nurse had to do a stint in Casualty, and had many amusing tales to tell of her experiences. One of our cleaners, now retired, used to previously work at the Cov and Warwick, and had a tale to tell. One day she was cleaning the floor in the waiting area, and Coventry's famous (infamous?) Mary Hill was there, who suddenly announced to everyone that she needed the toilet, and without further ado stood over the cleaning bucket and relived herself in full view of everybody. Presumably it was the effect of the alcohol.

I broke my leg playing football in 1977 (tibia & fibula), had operation to fit metal plate (no plaster) and ended up on Phillip Ward. I was gradually moved further & further down the ward until after 10 days I was shipped out to Whitley for another week. Loved it there. Food was freshly cooked and was great. Most of us were in recovery and waiting to go home. A guy in the next but one bed had connections. His dad kept the Earlsdon Cottage and he brought in loads of beer. Breakfast time, we all ordered boiled eggs and afterwards put half a shell over each eye to look like the guy in the TV series Kung Fu for when the doctors came round. The Auxiliary Nurses were brilliant. I seem to remember Hazel who was normally on food duty. She always knew that I would have seconds. I was in hospital for about 3 weeks for my broken leg. They kick you out after 24 hours nowadays.

HI Slim, that Mary Hill, is she the one who supposedly killed her husband? I know it was many years ago, I think I knew her daughter who was a cracker, a gorgeous looking girl. Would be in her late 70s, maybe 80s now. I can't remember her first name.