Ian Charles Cottage Hospital - Maternity wing opened by Lochiel 4th May 1923
ID:PC_GM_ALBUM_68DESCRIPTION:In the early 1920s local authorities were under pressure from central government to make some provision of maternity and child welfare, particularly due to the identified high mortality rate of mothers and children.
By early 1920 the County of Moray had a Maternity and Child Welfare Scheme for the County and Burghs, part of which was the treatment in hospital of maternity cases requiring special treatment although it assumed that most births would continue to be carried out at home, i.e. they expected to pay for very few. In 1920, in response to this initiative, the Trustees of the Ian Charles Hospital considered that they had neither the accommodation nor the qualified staff to admit maternity cases to their 12 bed cottage hospital but they seem to have been prompted to erect a maternity ward. After some investigation they concluded that they were unlikely to gain revenue from local authorities and that there were likely to be two types of client; - (i) 'poor patients whose home surroundings are so limited 'as to endanger the health of the mother and child' and from whom little or no payment can be expected' and (ii) ordinary confinement cases that might be in a position to pay a moderate fee'. They also considered it 'advisable to limit the admission to married women'.
In 1923 the hospital had a matron, 2 probationer nurses, 2 maids and a man to look after the furnace and grounds. All lived in except the man. With the maternity wing it was recognised that another qualified nurse would be required although this may be a temporary post according to demand. There was sufficient accommodation upstairs for 3 nurses and 2 maids. The matron's bedroom was downstairs.
On 4th May 1923 the new ward was opened by Cameron of Lochiel (trustee of the Belford Hospital in Fort William) and the ward was handed over to Mr Cuthbertson of the hospital trustees by Lady Seafield. Baillie James Kerr handed over a new X ray machine to the trustees and Provost Hastilow gave the thanks. The secretary was Col Grant Smith at the Seafield Estate Office in Grantown.
This image may be available to purchase.
For further information about purchasing and prices please email
Grantown MuseumPLACENAME:Grantown-on-SpeyOLD COUNTY/PARISH:MORAYSHIRE: Cromdale, Inverallan and AdvieDATE OF IMAGE:4 May 1923PERIOD:1920sSOURCE:Grantown MuseumCOLLECTION:Grantown Museum Photographic CollectionAsset ID:23182KEYWORDS:
Your download will start shortly, please do not navigate away from this page until the download prompt has appeared. Doing so may cause your download to be interrupted.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok