IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0387 PM
Held at: Royal London Hospital
Title: Plaistow Maternity Hospital
Date(s): 1890-1978
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 5 linear metres
Name of creator(s): Plaistow Maternity Hospital
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Plaistow Maternity Hospital was founded in 1889 by Miss Katherine Twining (who became its first Matron), as St Mary's District Nurses' Home, Plaistow. The aim of the Home was to provide midwifery and nursing support for the inhabitants of South West Ham in their own homes. In 1894 the charity purchased 17 and 19 Howard's Road, which formed the basis of the District Nurses' Home. In the same year a Midwifery Training School and District Nursing Training School was opened. One of the stated aims of the Charity was to specifically instruct women for nursing work in villages and cottages.
In 1895 a Committee of Management was formed, and further land was purchased in Howard's Road which allowed the premises to be extended in 1898. In 1901 branch homes were established at the Docks, Stratford and East Ham, and in 1904 a further branch home opened at Barking. The acquisition of 24 and 26 Howard's Road in 1904 allowed for 12 in-patient beds, which increased to 20 in 1911 with the acquisition of no 28. Chesterton House was purchased in 1915 as a centre for ante natal, post natal and infant welfare activities. The in-patient accommodation was replaced by a new building at Chesterton Road, Plaistow with 36 maternity and 4 general beds, opened by Queen Mary in 1923. The name of the charity was changed in 1926 to Plaistow Maternity Hospital.
In 1938 the Central Midwives Board divided the midwifery examinations into two parts, and Plaistow Maternity Hospital was one of only a few hospitals to be recognised for parts I and II. The District Nursing Branch at East Ham was transferred to East Ham District Nursing Association in 1940. During the Second World War, the In-patient Department was evacuated to Suntrap, High Beech, Loughton, Essex. During the same period the Ministry of Health Emergency Maternity Hospital at East Haddon Hall, Northampton was staffed by Plaistow Maternity Hospital. The Hospital building and its branch homes were damaged by bombing during World War II.
The Hospital became part of the National Health service in 1948, at which time the District Home at Barking transferred to the control of Essex County Council. In 1976 the City and East London Area Health Authority (Teaching), following responses to its consultative document `Towards a changed pattern of health care', agreed to close Plaistow Maternity Hospital. Its services were transferred to Forest Gate Hospital, pending the building of a new nucleus hospital for Newham. Newham General Hospital phase 2, which included maternity provision, opened in 1985 and Forest Gate Hospital closed.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of Plaistow Maternity Hospital, 1890-1978, comprising Committee of Management minutes, 1896-1947; minutes of annual general meetings, 1948; Committee attendance books, 1944-1948;
accounts and ledgers, 1917-1954; paying patients' ledgers, 1937-1948; Barking patients' ledgers, 1928-1944; National Insurance account books, 1923-1948; receipt analysis book, 1913-1917;
patient records, 1890-1978, comprising midwifery case books of home births, 1890-1910, and Custom House branch, 1892-1904, containing patient details, names of attending nurses and doctors, case details; register of cases, 1908, 1947-1955; midwifery registers of births in the District Nurses' Home, later Maternity Hospital, 1897-1906, 1940-1963; midwives' registers of cases for North Woolwich, 1922-1924, pupils' register, 1942-1944, District cases, 1952-1954, Hospital cases, 1957-1960; registers of ante natal clinic admissions, 1959-1978; Nursing case books, 1903-1904, for the Custom House branch, 1893-1903, case register books, 1893-1904, concerning nursing in patients' homes;
nursing and midwifery records, 1890-1959, comprising village nurse training course registers, 1897-1905; midwifery training registers, 1909-1946, including for the North Woolwich Branch, 1942-1944, and examination book, 1914-1932; report books, 1915-1920, detailing training and including reports on work; midwives' case books, 1892-1904, 1940-1959 and district nurses' registers, 1893-1904, for the Custom House Branch; District nurses' registers, 1891-1899 for the Dock Branch; midwives' case books for home births, 1890-1909;
registers of permanent and post graduate staff, 1938-1959; Church book, 1913, detailing places of worship.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
The records are arranged as follows: administrative records; financial records; patient records; nursing and midwifery records.
Conditions governing access:
Researchers wishing to consult the archives should first contact the Trust Archivist, The Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, London, E1 1BB, for an appointment.
All records containing details of treatment of identified patients are confidential and access to them may be restricted, subject to access arrangements under the Freedom of Information Act, 2000 and the Data Protection Act, 1998.
Conditions governing reproduction:
A photocopying service is available at the discretion of the Archivist. Photocopies are supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Archivist.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
A list is available at the Royal London Hospital Archives and Museum.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Transferred from Stratford Local Studies Library by the Director of Leisure Services, London Borough of Newham in 1997.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Records relating to the Hospital, 1905-1947, are held by London Metopolitan Archives.
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Sources: Wellcome Library and the Public Record Office HOSPREC: On-Line Hospital Records Database. Compiled by Julie Tancell as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.
Date(s) of descriptions: June 2001