Lincoln County Hospital

Lincoln County Hospital
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
East side of the hospital seen from Lincoln Cathedral
Shown in Lincolnshire
Geography
Location	Greetwell Road, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England
Organisation
Care system	NHS England
Type	District General
Affiliated university	University of Nottingham
Services
Emergency department	Yes
Beds	602
History
Opened	1776
Links
Website	www.ulh.nhs.uk/hospitals/lincoln-county
Lists	Hospitals in England

Lincoln County Hospital is a large district general hospital on the eastern edge of north-east Lincoln, England. It is the largest hospital in Lincolnshire, and offers the most comprehensive services, in Lincolnshire. It is managed by the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

History

Hospital buildings dating back to 1878

Early history

The hospital has its origins in some rented accommodation in St Swithin's which opened in November 1769. ^[1] A purpose-built facility was designed by John Carr and William Lumby and built in Drury Lane between 1776 and 1777. ^[2]

Following issues with the nursing care, the Ladies' Nursing Fund Committee was established in 1864 to provide a better quality of nursing staff to the hospital. This arrangement only lasted for three years, but the Bromhead Institution for Nurses and the Bromhead Nursing Home became well established in Lincoln. ^[3]

A new site was identified on Sewell Road and purchased in 1875. ^[4] A new building, designed by Alexander Graham, was built on the new site and completed in 1878. ^[4] The hospital joined the National Health Service in 1948. ^[4]

Construction

Construction work, undertaken by Shepherd Building Group on a maternity unit commenced on site on 2 May 1966. It involved 112 beds, including 78 consultant beds, 26 general practitioner beds, and eight private patients beds. There was also a delivery suite. The unit had a special care unit with 21 cots on the sixth floor, and ante-natal clinic, and midwifery training school on the ground floor. The total cost was £800,000. ^[5] The seven-storey maternity unit was opened by Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon on 4 December 1968. ^{[6] [7]}

Construction of Phase One of the main hospital, undertaken by Shepherd Building Group, began at the end of July 1981. ^[8] There were two main buildings, with 112 beds. ^[9] Phase One cost £16.7m and involved four new operating theatres. Some 150 more staff were needed, with one hundred more nurses. At the time, it was difficult to find enough experienced theatre staff. ^[10] It opened to the public in April 1985, after ward staff and theatre staff moved from St George's Hospital. ^[11] Phase One was officially opened on 23 July 1985 by Diana, Princess of Wales. Diana had arrived at RAF Scampton in a Hawker Siddeley Andover, with two thousand people lining the route from Scampton. ^{[12] [13]}

Construction of Phase Two of the hospital, undertaken by Higgs and Hill Northern, started on 7 December 1989. ^{[14] [15]} It involved a series of surgical wards, six operating theatres, and a new A&E. There were 168 new acute beds. ^{[16] [17]} Phase two was completed at a cost of £24 million. It partly opened to the public in mid-February 1993 and fully opened to the public in April 1993. ^{[18] [19]} It was officially opened by Princess Anne on 15 September 1993. ^{[20] [21]}

Recent history

The Lincoln Hospitals' Radio Service, which first broadcast from St George's Hospital in December 1979, moved to Lincoln County Hospital in 1988. Its founder, Ray Drury, had been a cartoonist with the Daily Express . ^[22]

In 2013 a review by Professor Sir Bruce Keogh found that there was a significant backlog of complaints and that there had been a noticeable increase in the ombudsman having to intervene to investigate complaints that had not been followed up. Accordingly Keogh found that the complaints handling system was not fit for purpose. The trust implemented a new complaints system in response. ^{[23] [24] [25]}

Notable staff

• Cassandra Maria Beachcroft (1839-1937), Matron (1884-1898). ^[26] Beachcroft trained as a Lady Probationer at The London Hospital under Annie Swift and Eva Luckes between about 1879-1881. She worked as a ward sister at both The London and St Bartholomew's Hospital before her appointment. She resigned as matron of Lincoln County Hospital after 14 years tenure because of a disagreement with the house surgeon over her professional autonomy. ^{[27] [26]} She was an early member of the British Nurses' Association and also a vice Chairman of the Matron's Council. ^[28]

Services

The University of Nottingham Medical School has approximately 330 nursing students and 30 midwifery students at its Lincoln Education Centre. ^[29] Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire share the Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance. ^[30]

See also

• Pilgrim Hospital

References

1. "Lincoln County Hospital". National Archives. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
2. "Chad Varah House, formerly Lincoln Theological College" . Retrieved 31 October 2018.
3. "Records of the Bromhead Institution for Nurses and the Bromhead Nursing Home, Lincoln". The National Archives. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
4. "Lincoln County Hospital". Lincs to the Past. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
5. Lincolnshire Echo Thursday 16 March 1967, page 7
6. Lincolnshire Echo Wednesday 4 December 1968, page 6
7. Sleaford Standard Friday 6 December 1968, page 1
8. Lincolnshire Echo Tuesday 10 July 1979, page 7
9. Lincolnshire Echo Wednesday 24 June 1981, page 1
10. Lincolnshire Echo Saturday 1 December 1984, page 4
11. Lincolnshire Echo Thursday 4 April 1985, page 9
12. Lincolnshire Echo Tuesday 23 July 1985, page 1
13. Grimsby Daily Telegraph Tuesday 23 July 1985, page 1
14. Lincolnshire Echo Tuesday 5 June 1990, page 23
15. Lincolnshire Echo Tuesday 1 December 1992, page 39
16. Lincolnshire Echo Thursday 7 December 1989, page 9
17. Lincolnshire Echo Tuesday 5 December 1989, page 25
18. Lincolnshire Echo Monday 11 January 1993, page 11
19. Lincolnshire Echo Monday 15 February 1993, page 2
20. Lincolnshire Echo Tuesday 13 July 1993, page 9
21. Lincolnshire Echo Thursday 16 September 1993, page 1
22. "Lincoln City Radio". Cylex. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
23. "Hospitals revamp complaints system". BBC. 19 October 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
24. "Complaints handling" (PDF). Lincolnshire County Council. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
25. "United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust" (PDF). Care Quality Commission. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
26. Rogers, Sarah (2022). 'A Maker of Matrons’? A study of Eva Lückes’s influence on a generation of nurse leaders:1880–1919' (Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield, April 2022)
27. Wildman, Stuart (29 July 2022). "'Were they to have petticoat government in the hospital?' The reform of nursing in nineteenth-century Lincoln". Women's History Review. 31 (5): 741–759. doi: 10.1080/09612025.2021.1966891 . ISSN   0961-2025.
28. "'Nurses of Note- Miss Cassandra M. Beachcroft'". The Nursing Record and Hospital World . 14: 213. 6 April 1895 – via RCN Archive.
29. "Undergraduate Nursing Courses - School of Health Sciences - The University of Nottingham". www.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
30. "Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance is set to provide 24 hour care". Nottingham Post . 19 January 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.

External links

• NHS Choices
• Hospital site map

53°14′00″N0°31′08″W / 53.2333°N 0.518775°W / 53.2333; -0.518775