Infirmary, New Scarisbrick Road, Southport

THE NEW INFIRMARY AT SOUTHPORT - In the competition among architects for the best design for the new infirmary at Southport to commemorate the centenary of the town, that sent in by Mr C Sydney Ingham of Manchester has been selected. The work is to commence immediately, and it is thought that the foundation stone may be laid towards the end of October. [Manchester Guardian 13 August 1892 page 7]

NEW INFIRMARY AT SOUTHPORT - On Saturday it was decided to invite the Mayor of Southport (Alderman G A Pilkington) to lay the foundation stone of the new infirmary on October 29. The new institution is to cost, exclusive of the five-acre site, which has been given, over £13,000. Mr C Sydney Ingham of this city is the architect. The mayor came to Southport 21 years ago as the first house surgeon of the existing infirmary. [Manchester Guardian 19 September 1892 page 8]

SOUTHPORT NEW INFIRMARY - The foundation stone of a new infirmary was laid at Southport yesterday by Dr Pilkington, the Mayor of the borough. This is the centenary year of Southport and the new institution is to be its fitting memorial. .... Mr C Sydney Ingham of Manchester and Southport is the architect of the new infirmary and we take the following from a description which he has supplied: The infirmary estate is situated about a mile and a quarter from the centre of the town, and is some fove acres in extent. It is bounded on three sides by streets, the main frontage to Scarisbrick New Road extending 121 yards. The width of the building will be 243 feet. The style of architecture is a free treatment of Flemish, the external walls being of red stock bricks, relieved with Longridge stone dressings and a small quality of terra-cotta, with roofs of Westmorland slate and red ridgings. The central portion of the main frontage will be two storeys in height, while the ends of the corridors, etc, will be only one. In the centre of the front block of buildings there will be an octagonal brick and stone clock tower, surmounted by a wood and lead lantern, rising to a height of 76 feet above ground line. One of the main features of the building will be the central arrangement off the out-patients’ department, which is so planned that when patients leave the consulting room they are at once in the centre of the building and equally distant from each of the wards. There will be accommodation at one time in the out patient’s department for seventy persons. The accident receiving room and the operating room are so planned as to be without hearing from any of the wards. From the centre of the main corridor, running towards the back of the building is a corridor 9 feet wide, from which several of the rooms before mentioned are arrived at. The isolation ward block is a distinct hospital in itself, having ward nurses room, two wards for two beds each, baths, lavatories and linen rooms. Ornamental gardens surround the whole buildings, those to the front being laid out in a circular form with an ornamental fountain in the centre. The whole of the site will be enclosed in a boundary wall of stock brick and stone. The tenders for the buildings will be received before the present year is out, so that a good commencement may be made with the new year. [Manchester Guardian 28 October 1892 page 7]

 

INFIRMARY, SOUTHPORT - The British Medical Journal publishes a description of the new infirmary recently erected at Southport, from plans by Mr. C. S. Ingham. architect, Manchester. The buildings, which are in the Flemish style freely treated, are mainly of one story, the exception being the administrative block. There are three main wards. Those for males and females respectively are rectangular and occupy the east and west sides of the site. With the administrative block they form a quadrangle, the enclosed ground being laid out as an ornamental garden. The ground on the outer sides of the wards is also laid out and planted, each portion measuring 60 ft. by 200 ft. In entering the hospital, the visitor passes through two vestibules into the main hall. Opening off this hall are the secretary's office, and the house-surgeons' and matron's sitting rooms. The house-surgeons' bedrooms are in a private corridor opening from the sitting-room, and a good feature of the design is that this suite of rooms is only separated from the accident room by the breadth of a corridor. Behind the hall is the main corridor, open throughout and paved with mosaic. From it another corridor at right angles runs to the accident and out-patient rooms, to which patients are admitted through a separate entrance on the west side of the site. The out-patient department consists of a waiting-room (32 ft. by 30 ft.), two dressing -rooms, two consulting-rooms, an ophthalmic-room, and lavatories. The dispensary, which is connected with this department. is so centrally situated that it is about equally near all the wards. Patients admitted from the out-patient department pass to the appropriate ward without passing through the hospital or into the neighbourhood of the other wards. The operating-room is on the opposite side of the corridor, as are also the nurses' dining-room, The matron's store and work-rooms are placed close to the tradesmen's entrance. The kitchen and servants' department are reached by a vestibule opening off the branch corridor. At the end of the corridor is a passage to the children's ward. This ward, which contains twelve beds, is circular. It is warmed by central fireplaces and is shut off from the rest of the building that it forms, as it were, a small independent hospital. The rectangular wards for men and women, which contain each twenty beds, stand 20 feet from the administrative block, and the part of the main corridor which connects them with this is provided with windows for cross ventilation. Each ward is provided with a sitting-room for patients, nurses' sitting-room, ward kitchen, linen, and clothes rooms, and two isolation wards with one bed in each. The ward lavatories and closets are contained in a separate wing at the other end. The ventilation is by Tobin tubes at the head of each bed and up-cast central shafts. Each bed has a separate electric light with switch, and the wards and other of the hospital are connected by telephone. Large sleeping and other provision is made for nurses, as there is a nursing institute in connexion with the infirmary. [Builder 25 January 1896 page 77-78]

 

Reference    Manchester Guardian 13 August 1892 page 7
Reference    Manchester Guardian 19 September 1892 page 8
Reference    Manchester Guardian 28 October 1892 page 7 - foundation stone
Reference    Manchester Guardian 27 September 1895 page 8
Reference    Builder 25 January 1896 page 77-78