12. The State Opening of ....

The State Opening of Parliament recently made me think about all the opening ceremonies that must have occurred on the Joyce Green Hospital site during its lifetime.

A smallpox epidemic apparently occurred during the winter of 1901/02 and The Orchard Hospital was built on some farmland between Long Reach Hospital and the area of land that would later house Joyce Green Hospital. Finally, with no signs whatsoever that the smallpox problem was going to disappear, Joyce Green Hospital was opened in 1903 to complement the existing inadequate provision.

But who, I have been wondering, "opened" the hospital and what sort of ceremony - if any - occurred to mark its birth ? When hundreds of patients a month were being admitted during an epidemic of the sort that we are talking about there probably wasn't the time, the inclination or the necessary public health safety-margin to have allowed for a grand ceremony.

Perhaps Dr Ricketts, the Medical Superintendant and the first Matron, Miss Wacher, were joined by a representative of the Metropolitan Asylum Board (the reigning hospital authority) and the hospital chaplain or a local priest for a short and simple act of dedication ? I wonder if we shall never know what actually took place ?

And what about when other buildings, facilities and services came on-stream during the hospital's long life ? The horse-drawn tram system, for example, which carried patients and goods between the three hospitals during the period 1903-1930, the conversion of Joyce Green from a London County Council-run hospital into a local NHS hospital at the time of the creation of the 1948 National Health Service, the amalgamation of the three existing nurse training schools into one new school in 1951 and the subsequent amalgamation of the Southern Hospital with the Joyce Green Hospital in 1959 ?

As many people are aware the latter was marked by the opening of an outdoor swimming pool at Joyce Green in 1961 and no doubt there are still many colleagues around still who remember that great day in May when a certain Mr S.C. Harris, OBE, JP declared it "well and truly open"?

In 1963 Sir Arthur Porritt, President of the Royal College of Surgeons opened the new twin operating suite and in 1969 the new psychiatric unit began to function.

Obviously individuals who worked within the hospital more recently will recall other changes and developments, however one thing that I am also left pondering about is: What ceremony and celebrations accompanied the closure of the hospital on 11th September 2000 ? Surely, I find myself saying, a number of events must have taken place to mark the end of Joyce Green's long and distinguished life ?

Perhaps you are in a position to be able to comment on what sort of ceremony and activities took place to mark the closure of the hospital but perhaps you can also recall some of the details relating to some of the smaller opening ceremonies that occurred whilst the hospital was still active ?