Medical

Christmas Eve at the Front

An interesting letter has just been received by Mrs Packer, of Broadclyst, from her husband, Corpl Packer of A Company, 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment, who is serving with the Expeditionary Force in Northern France. In the course of a letter he describes a remarkable incident which occurred on Christmas Eve between the British and German trenches.

North Devon Infirmary

The House Committee of the North Devon Infirmary, in consequence of the serious financial position, owing to the falling off of donations and legacies, has been obliged for the present, to close one of the wards.

It is estimated that, for the financial year which ends 30th June, 1910, there will be an adverse balance of at least £500. The legacies received by the Infirmary during the present financial year have been unprecedentedly low – as a matter of fact, a sum of £15 only has been received since 1st July, 1909, and the donations up to 1st April, 1910, show a large decrease from those of last year.

Gazette article dated 12 April 1910

Maternity Home Future Threatened?

Maternity home during WW2

The existence of Bideford’s only maternity home may be threatened if the South Western Regional Hospital Board go ahead with plans to end the arrangement whereby National Health Service patients are admitted to it.

The Board, who have invited comments on their proposal before February 5th, point out that the agreement with the Grenville Nursing Home Ltd was entered into by Devon County Council in 1946 and was taken over by the Board two years later. Under it general practitioners in Bideford have the use of 10 beds at the home for obstetrics. Use of the home, say the Board, has greatly diminished since the opening of the new maternity unit in Barnstaple and on average only three beds have been occupied at any one time.

The few patients delivered in the Grenville home, the Board add, could be accommodated at Barnstaple at substantially lower cost and in a modern building.

Originally Bideford General Hospital, the Grenville became a maternity home during World War II.

The managing director, Mr F Meadows, is in Spain and unavailable for comment.

At the home, which is overbooked in February and March, no official intimation has been received.

Gazette article dated 12 January 1973

Children Sent to Wrong Homes

Unfortunate mistake says hospital

Mrs W J Gifford, of Buneham Cottage, Hartland, eagerly awaited the return of her two year old son, Andrew, from the North Devon Infirmary, Barnstaple, where he had been a patient.
When a car drew up outside the house she rushed to the door and opened it only to find the car driver and a small boy she had never seen before.
While Mrs Gifford was explaining to the driver it was not her son, a neighbour arrived to say that the hospital had telephoned that a mistake had been made.
The boy who had been taken to Hartland – 5 year old Kevin Veale, of the Cottage, Botreaux Mill, South Molton – had been driven 50 miles in the wrong direction.
Mr J C Woolley (secretary of the North Devon Hospital Committee) described the mistake in identities as ‘most unfortunate’.
The full Gazette article is dated 19 February 1960