Services for Patients
Discover the stories of volunteers delivering services to support patients.
Stories of volunteers supporting the health service since 1949
London
The Friends of Barnes Hospital first came into existence when local churches and other organisations in the area decided to provide presents for patients in 1948. For over 70 years volunteers with the Friends group have fundraised to add extra comfort to those using the hospital including the provision of equipment, furniture and entertainment as well as more recently community groups and services. When the hospital was threatened with closure the Friends campaigned with huge persistence and understanding of the needs of the community to successfully keep the hospital open. The Friends group has over 100 members today, with a key focus on distribution of local grants from legacies left to the group to support the hospital and health of the community.
The dedication and enthusiasm of the members of the Friends group is both infectious and inspiring.Zac, Lord Goldsmith Former MP for Richmond Park
Infectious diseases were a huge problem in the 19th Century, and in the 1880s diphtheria and scarlet fever were major killers, particularly in children. The authority in Mortlake, Surrey, wanted to find a site for an infectious diseases hospital.
In Barnes and Mortlake in the early 20th century, there were no beds for people with tuberculosis (TB.) In 1911, the council opened a make-shift TB dispensary at the hospital site, thought to be the first of its kind in an urban district. By 1913, the hospital was taking TB patients from across Surrey, only 20 of the 78 TB admissions that year were local residents.
The 19th of July 1919 was National Peace Day following the end of WWI. Staff and TB patients celebrated with sports, games, a concert and a dance.
At 9.24 on the night of 13th October 1940, a high-explosive bomb smashed down onto the hospital site. Six weeks later, on 29th November, the Luftwaffe struck again, this time with incendiaries. Fortunately there were no casualties but there was considerable damage to the buildings.
In 1948 the National Health Service arrived and it was decided the hospital would be used for chronically sick patients from Richmond Royal Hospital. For years the Barnes Hospital Committee had given money for celebrations and gifts at Christmas, but this all changed in 1948 with the newly constituted NHS. Percy Young, chairman of the public health committee, was upset by this change and quickly contacted the local churches, community organisations and traders who provided presents for all the patients. Their efforts that Christmas were the start of what has become the Friends of Barnes Hospital.
Barnes had gradually become a long-stay geriatric hospital with 30 beds for men and 84 for women. Improvements were badly needed. The Friends, along with the support of other community organisations, were supporting patients.
The Friends group chaired by Percy Young was meeting every two months to plan fundraising fairs, including the big Christmas Fair, and coffee mornings, and organising outings, teas, gifts and luxuries for the patients. The Friends were also providing curtains for the wards to give patients privacy.
As the hospital marked its centenary year in 1989, the Friends went from strength to strength funding a huge array of things including denture cups, talcum powder, garden furniture, radios, flower troughs, umbrella stands, record players, Easter eggs, televisions, fish tanks and skittles! There were outings to Brighton, London Zoo and Buckingham Palace, a Burns Night supper, holidays to Cliftonville on the Kent coast as well as regular concerts and parties. By the 1990s the main focus of the hospital was on mental health services.
From 2008 for the next 10 years, the hospital underwent a series of changes of use. In 2011 the last ward closed and there were no inpatient beds. The site was now providing outpatient support only. In 2015, a combination of different community mental health teams were working from the site providing mental health services for more than 750 patients.
Planning permission was being sought for a health facility, a special needs school and some housing to be built on the site. The Friends continue to support the local community, mainly with the distribution of funds raised over the years.
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