Health [leisure trust, arts heritage, sports centres, fitness health, rochdale, link4life, entertainment, Rochdale Boroughwide Cultural Trust, museum, middleton arena, gallery, touchstones, local studies, central, bowlee, springhill, marland, heywood, littleborough,]
Birch Hill Hospital (c.1910)
Opening of Holden Ward, Rochdale Infirmary (1897)
Staff, Memorial Home for Crippled Children, Norden. c.1920
Durnford St Clinic, Infra red treatment room (1932)
Nurses & babies at the children's pavilion, Birch Hill Hospital (1947)
Middleton Corporation Ambulance (c.1925)
Midwives Association charges, Heywood. c 1930
Healthy Living, Body, Mind & Spirit.
Organised healthcare in Rochdale began in 1832 with the formation of the 'Rochdale General Dispensary' a charity for the 'Relief of the Sick Poor,' which was founded by Clement Royds, John Entwisle and others. At that time sanitation in the town (and others like it) was almost non-existent, and deadly fever epidemics swept through the population, especially amongst the poor who could not afford to pay for medicines or treatment. The General Dispensary eventually became Rochdale Infirmary.
Workhouses offered some shelter to the sick and infirm, and the Union Workhouse at Birch Hill (opened in 1877) with its own infirmary block, eventually became Birch Hill Hospital. Despite the development of hospitals, many people continued to have minor operations at home (eg removal of tonsils) until the National Health Service was formed in 1948.
Throughout the latter half of the 19th Century and beyond, there were continuous efforts to improve Public Health in the town. Reservoirs were built, sanitation and refuse collections were improved and the problem of slum housing was tackled. In addition the 20th century saw the development of Welfare Services for all, including Infant & Child Welfare Services, the School Medical Services (including dentistry), and the District Nursing and Midwifery Services. People still had to pay fees for some of these services, eg. Midwifery.
Then as now, many people also used alternative health treatments. Before the advent of the N.H.S. in 1948 people had to pay to see a doctor. They also had to pay for medicines and treatment. Many people who could not afford the fees, especially for minor ailments, would consult a herbalist instead. Nell Racker, whose real name was Ellen Wallace, was the most famous of Rochdale's herbalists and was also a midwife. People also used patent medicines advertised in newspapers or asked their local chemists for medicine for a cough mixture or other remedies. At times people also resorted to the patent medicines advertised in newspapers and magazines. These may or may not have been effective, but they were always accompanied by lots of testimonials from people claiming to have been cured of various ailments.
