Prior to 1893 Chorley, like any other Lancashire industrial town, had its own Dispensary. It was here that local residents obtained medical advice and drugs, although treatment was always at home, by family members.
In 1892, Alderman Henry Rawcliffe and associates met with the Board of Directors of the Dispensary, with a proposal to build a Cottage Hospital in Chorley.
The meeting closed following a survey of all persons subscribing to the Dispensary. Thirty-two votes were cast in favour of the Cottage Hospital, whilst fifty-two votes were against. The only concession given by a number of dissenters was a possible agreement providing the original Dispensary was not replaced, but incorporated within the Cottage Hospital.
Alderman Rawcliffe maintained the momentum for the building of the Cottage Hospital and in May 1892 at the meeting of the Governors of the Dispensary, they considered Alderman Rawcliffe’s new proposals. He offered to provide a building at the corner of Gillibrand Street and Lennon Street.
The addition to the Dispensary would comprise of four wards, a sitting room, kitchen and bathrooms. It was anticipated that between 10–12 beds would be accommodated within the wards.
After another lengthy debate, the proposal was accepted and work was to commence immediately.
Eighteen months after the laying of the foundation stone, the Cottage Hospital was complete. Alderman Rawcliffe financed the whole project and on 2 September 1893, the hospital was handed over from the builders to Alderman Rawcliffe, awaiting the official opening.
The Cottage Hospital was officially opened by Mr & Mrs Henry Rawcliffe on 9 September 1893 and the Mayor, Alderman J Whittle, accepted the hospital on behalf of the people of Chorley.
The second major development of the Cottage Hospital was proposed in 1899, to be named the Winstanley Wing. The foundation stone of the Winstanley Wing was laid on Thursday 17 August 1899 and it was officially opened on 19 September 1900.
The early part of the twentieth century saw no further major developments. The Cottage Hospital was well used by local people, and during the Great War a number of injured Chorley soldiers found hospitality within the Rawcliffe and Winstanley Wings.
The New Hospital
During the 1920s, the demand for hospital facilities increased. Proposals were considered to extend the present facilities, but the estimated cost of £46,000 was considered too expensive. As an alternative, the committee decided to build a new hospital.
In July 1926, the Governors of Chorley Hospital met with the intention to buy a plot of land on which to build a new hospital. After a number of visits to prospective sites, a short list of two evolved, Pilling Lane and Preston Road and a report was drawn up. The report stated:
Rookwood Site
The six acres of land would cost £3,250. Ideally the wards should be built to face southwest towards Astley Hall. It seemed very unlikely that the locality would be built-up later. The existing building could easily be converted into offices for administration at a cost of £1,750. The drainage system could be accommodated in the main sewer of Preston Road, whilst any further extension on the lower ground adjacent to the hospital could direct the drainage towards the proposed road to the south.
The distance from the Town Hall to the Rookwood site was the same as the Town Hall to the Pilling Lane site.
Pilling Lane Site
The six acres would cost £900. The wards should face east, as the contours of the land prevented any other direction. There was sufficient land for future building. There was no drainage nearby, nor any sizeable road, the cost of construction would be in the region of £1,500. The Pilling Lane site does not have any existing buildings.
In conclusion, it was recommended that the Rookwood site should be purchased for the purpose of building a new hospital and in 1931, architects Bradshaw, Gass and Hope of Bolton were commissioned to design the new hospital at Chorley.
The ceremony for the laying of the foundation stone took place on 11 June 1932 and on 2 September 1933, 47 years after the opening of the first Chorley Hospital, the formal opening of the Chorley and District Hospital took place.
Post War Period
With the introduction of the NHS in 1948 and increased demand for hospital services, it became obvious that the present hospital was too small. A development plan to change the status of Chorley and District Hospital to a General Hospital was submitted to the Regional Board. The proposals included:
- Conversion of the kitchen block to casualty rooms
- The Accident Unit to be enlarged
- A new administration block
- Two new blocks each comprising of four wards
- New block for the chronic sick
- Small Pathology Laboratory
- Extension of the operating theatre into the main kitchen area
- Nurses’ home extension
- Boiler house extension
- Chapel or room for religious services
The Hospital Board accepted that the plan was a comprehensive one and anticipated it would take years before building work commenced.
The next extensions to the hospital were granted in August 1955, when the Regional Board of Hospital Management Committee gave permission for the building of a new Accident and Emergency Department and Outpatient Department.
Mr Morris W Agnew CBE, Chairman of the Manchester Regional Health Board, opened the new Accident and Emergency Unit on 27 December 1957. The department incorporated a Casualty Theatre and Plaster Room, fully equipped with all the latest equipment.
1960 – 1979
The beginning of a new decade brought with it the continued recognition for a large hospital at Chorley, although further internal improvements continued to maintain the level of care available for patients at the hospital.
Mayor William Rawcliffe decided to bring to the attention of the Hospital Management Committee the need to extend both the size of the hospital and the facilities available and further plans and proposals for an extension to Chorley Hospital were submitted in December 1962.
As the concept of a new town being built in Central Lancashire became more of a reality, the need for an increase in health facilities continued. However, in September 1971, Alderman Ian Sellers warned that if Consultant Services were removed from Chorley Hospital, it would become nothing more than a first aid station for Preston.
By September 1974 fears over the long-term future of Chorley Hospital grew. Rumours were rife that Chorley was to become a geriatric hospital and nothing more. The District Administrator for Preston and Chorley Hospitals rejected this suggestion. He outlined plans for a new X-Ray Department and a new Elderly Unit at the Chorley site and by April 1976, the new Psycho-Geriatric Unit and X-Ray Department were near completion.
However, a further blow came in September 1976, when a senior management decision was made to close the Children’s Ward. Government initiatives referring to the care of children in hospital focused on the fears of the Children’s Ward closing in 1977. The instruction from the Department of Health would result in the closure taking place by 1980. It was proposed that all children would be transferred to the new Royal Preston Hospital, which was due to open in the early 1980s. Once again the Council, Community Health Council and general public, openly demonstrated a further erosion of the services. Support for the retention of the Children’s Ward was given by George Rogers, MP for Chorley.
In September 1977, Margaret Thatcher, the leader of the opposition, paid a visit to Chorley. A child’s letter was handed to her explaining the potential closure of the Children’s Ward. Mrs Thatcher promised to look into the matter and assist as much as possible.
The end of 1977 finally brought some good news. A meeting of the Regional Health Authority agreed that Chorley should be upgraded to a District General Hospital. This would include pathology, intensive care and more theatres. Disappointment came when it was announced that the scheme could not be considered for inclusion in the 10 years Capital Programme before 1987.
Concerns over the future of the Children’s Ward were apparently unfounded, when in February 1979 an announcement was made confirming that the ward would remain open. The limitations on the proposal was that older children who did not require the specialised services of a Paediatrician, would be cared for. All other children who required paediatric services would be cared for at Preston. This decision, by the Regional Health Authority, was made against a background that saw the closure of children’s wards in three other North West hospitals. Locally this decision was interpreted as one which suggested the development of a District General Hospital at Chorley was imminent.
As healthcare in Chorley entered a new decade, one which people hoped would see the completion of a new hospital, news came that the building programme had been deferred for at least three years. The announcement was made in the late summer that the £10 million project at Chorley had been deferred and Ormskirk had been accepted as having a greater priority.
Confirmation of this decision came in the spring of 1981, which also included a reduction of 112 beds from the original plan of Chorley’s District General Hospital. The delay would result in an increase in the cost from £10 million to approximately £13.5 million. The reduction in bed capacity from 280 to 168 was proposed to make more room for back-up services. Two new x-ray rooms had to be added to the original proposals, which also contained four operating theatres, pathology services, staff accommodation and support units. The reduction in the number of beds was not an indication that Chorley was being deprived of services as the situation would be reviewed nearer the commencement date.
The land adjacent to Chorley Hospital was finally purchased by the Regional Health Authority from Chorley Council for £575,000. This was seen as a positive sign that the new hospital would be included in the capital programme as planned.
In September 1981, Mr Ian Sellers, a former Councillor and Mayor of Chorley, was appointed Chairman of the new Chorley and South Ribble Health Authority. He pledged to maintain the fight to ensure that the health services in Chorley would be second to none.
As the mid 1980s arrived, so did many changes within the health service. In the summer of 1984 the curtain was to finally come down on the Children’s Ward. The ward, which had been under threat for many years, was to be converted into a Day Care Unit which would relieve the pressures from Rawcliffe and Winstanley Wards, who had previously cared for both inpatients and day cases.
The Unit was also to care for minor operations and children requiring day care facilities. The transformation of Sumner Ward would not only comply with government guidelines on childcare in hospital, but would also create substantial savings.
However, by December 1984 the Health Authority announced that unless there was a commitment from Preston to restore full paediatric services at Chorley in the near future, the decision to close the ward would not be implemented. Mr Ian Sellers, Chairman of the Health Authority, said that whilst the new hospital would include a children’s ward, there was no confirmed date of commencing the £23 million development, and the people of Chorley may have to wait a further 10 or 20 years for the hospital.
Further assurance was given to the Health Authority that the Phase III building work would commence in 1987/88, and be ready for commissioning in 1991. The planned hospital would cost between £21 and £23 million and would include the long awaited 24-hour casualty service. In addition, there would also be 146 acute beds, 20 elderly and 44 mentally ill patients and 15 day care beds. Day facilities would also be provided for 80 mentally ill patients and 20 elderly patients.
Back up services to be included were three theatres, six radio-diagnostic rooms, pathology, pharmacy and an outpatient department. The estimated running costs at 1985 prices came to £4.5 million per annum and the final go ahead was given by the Regional Health Authority at its meeting in April 1985.
However, three months after the go ahead was given, another bombshell hit Chorley with a further delay on the commencement date. The Phase III building was now due to commence in 1989/90.
Developments did continue on site at Chorley Hospital and September 1989 saw the new Casualty Department opened and a further £120,000.00 was set aside for the second phase of the development, a new Outpatients Department.
Rookwood
In July 1989 the new purpose built elderly medical unit was formally opened by Roger Freeman MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health.
The new unit, known as Rookwood, was built on the site of the Lea Ward, which had for many years been temporary accommodation for 19 elderly patients and previously used for Maternity. It consisted of two wards, an Endoscopy Suite, Occupational Therapy Room and a Physiotherapy Department.
By the close of November 1989, all the hard work by the Health Authority, the Town Council, Church Leaders and the Hospital Crusade Campaign, finally reaped its reward. A firm decision was made by the Regional Health Authority that Chorley would have a District General Hospital by 1996. The news was received with both jubilation and scepticism by the population of Chorley and South Ribble.
Following on from the opening of the new Casualty Department, the second stage of the development was opened in July 1990, by Den Dover MP. The new Outpatient Suites and upgrading of the present Outpatient Department enabled more clinics and facilities to be provided.
On 31 March 1992 at 12 noon the long awaited Phase III development became a reality when the first sod was cut to mark the commencement of the building scheme. The expected completion of the hospital was 1995, and an anticipated extra 500 jobs would benefit the provision of healthcare.
Trust Status
After the introduction of the Government’s White Paper “Working for Patients” in 1989, a number of hospitals took up Trust Status. In the changing world of 1992, Chorley and South Ribble Health Authority announced that it too was to apply for Trust Status from 1993.
At the Conservative Party Conference in 1992, Virginia Bottomley, Secretary of State for Health, announced that Chorley had been accepted for Trust status, with effect from April 1993. The Chairman of the Health Authority expressed delight at the acceptance. He assured people that the Trust would remain within the NHS and treatment would be free at the point of delivery.
1993 and beyond
The centenary of Chorley Hospital services gave birth to the long awaited new hospital, locally referred to as Phase III. This multimillion-pound development opened its doors in July 1995, when Rawcliffe and Winstanley Wards moved into the new accommodation.
The opening of Phase III not only facilitated new surgical services, but allowed the vacated part of the hospital to be refurbished and developed to increase facilities for medical patients. This resulted in acute medical admissions and the development of a Coronary Care Unit for the first time in Chorley.
The improved medical services at the Chorley Hospital site would result in the closure of Eaves Lane Hospital, with the site being sold to a housing development company.
The ‘roll out’ of services in the Phase III development saw the transfer of Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Outpatients, Pharmacy, Theatres and the opening of the Intensive Care Unit. In keeping with history, two of the new areas were named after prominent people who had been involved with Chorley Hospital. An Orthopaedic Ward was named Sellers Ward, after the late Ian Sellers, Chairman of the Hospital in the 1980s and 1990s, whilst the Theatre Suite was named after the late J P Lythgoe, Consultant Surgeon 1964–1993.
The official opening of Chorley and South Ribble District General Hospital was performed by HRH Princess Anne on 28 April 1997.
The mid 1990’s saw the completion of the Turnberg Report, which looked at the rationalisation of health care services in Lancashire. This report strongly supported the reconfiguration of services between Chorley and Preston. Although the two hospitals had separated many years before, there continued to be close working relationships throughout.
Between 1998 and 2000, work began to reunify the services by forming management structures with responsibility for both sites, although Preston Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and Chorley & South Ribble Hospital NHS Trust, had separate Executive Boards and Chairmen.
The process of reunification resulted in some changes in the level of service provision, notably the transfer of orthopaedic trauma to Royal Preston Hospital, and the development of an Orthopaedic Elective Surgery Unit at Chorley, with the latter incorporating all the elective orthopaedic surgery.
The final process of the reconfiguration concluded on 1 August 2002 when the merger was complete and the birth of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust took place.
Since the merger of hospital services between Preston and Chorley, and more recently the award of Foundation Trust status, there has been greater scope for Royal Preston Hospital and Chorley and South Ribble Hospital to build on their respective strengths. This enables them to deliver the highest standards of care for people in the local area and also specialist services for the wider community in Lancashire and Cumbria.
(Thanks to Ken Strang, Clinical Nurse Manager at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital for providing the information)
