Luton and Dunstable Hospital

Description

The LampD Today

The Luton amp Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust more familiarly known at The LampD is a highlyrated Acute Hospital located conveniently close to major hubs in south Bedfordshire

You can view the LampDs Constitution here

Today the LampD has an international reputation as a pioneering leader in a number of specialty fields of medicine and surgery We serve a local population of over 350000 from Luton Dunstable together other towns and villages in the south Bedfordshire and north Hertfordshire region

With convenient road rail and airport connections the LampD is also well placed as a regional centre of excellence for key specialties such as neonatal intensive care obesity research and surgery neurophysiology maxillofacial and cancer services The LampD is also home to one of the largest Breast Screening Centres in the country and the regional LimbFitting service

In 2009 we were awarded for being quotBest in Classquot in tackling infection having halved our MRSA and Cdiff infections during the previous year As from April 2009 a new MRSA screening programme has been introduced to ensure that this trend continues

We are conveniently situated at Junction 11 of the M1 have fast train connections to London and the Midlands and have close international airport links If travelling by car we have 400 parking spaces including 50 for Blue Badge holders

History

The Origins and History of the LampD

It is hard to imagine the LampD of 70 years ago with only 170 beds It was built equipped and maintained as a voluntary hospital for the first nine years of its existence mainly as a result of the generosity of people who lived and worked in the district In the 1930s despite the economic depression which particularly affected Tyneside Clydeside and South Wales Luton was a rapidly growing town due to the availability of employment There was insufficient space for expansion at the Bute Hospital 1882 situated next to St Marys Hospital so it was decided to build another hospital with scope for extensions Ten acres of land situated in the country between Luton and Dunstable at one time owned by the Omnia Aero Company were purchased from Electrolux for pound3800

Tremendous fundraising efforts locally enabled building to begin in 1937 There were to be six wards and an outpatient department so patients would no longer have to go to London for a second opinion A casualty unit was essential as the first one in Luton opened in 1933 at The Bute had proved so valuable In addition a twin theatre unit was opened so that never again would there be waiting lists for surgery There was also to be a large private wing with a theatre and a nurses home with a classroom A local builder H C Janes submitted the lowest local tender of pound111231 and was awarded the contract Most people thought it would be a white elephant although it was to be built next to the Luton Borough Maternity Hospital 1936

Queen Mary formally opened the new hospital on 14 February 1939 She was accompanied on her tour of inspection by Dr John Bone a distinguished retired general practitioner and first President of the hospital and Miss Edith Redman Matron who had held the same position at The Bute since 1928

Ward 1 was named after Queen Mary ward 4 after Lady Ludlow from Luton Hoo and ward 2 after a Dunstable grocer Arthur Frederick Buckingham 18601917 who bequeathed pound4000 to found a cottage hospital in Dunstable for the poor and needy of Dunstable and district Although he had written his will on a brown sugar bag it was still valid However for various reasons Buckinghams original intention could not be achieved and the money which had accumulated to pound10000 through wise investment made a considerable contribution to the endowment of the new hospital Probably because of this and as Dunstable like Luton had raised so much money the hospital was named the Luton and Dunstable Hospital rather than The New Bute Hospital

In the week following the opening ceremony local people looked proudly round their new hospital while it was still empty On 9 March Mr Ronald Lingard Hospital Secretary took charge of the transfer of patients and staff from The Bute but voluntary help was essential to the manoeuvre It is interesting to note that in 1939 one telephone was thought sufficient and it was considered adequate to use the services of a pharmacist from a local chemist should there be any prescriptions for patients

The many changes that have taken place since 1939 have been chronicled elsewhere It is fair to say however that without the foresight of those who founded the LampD it could not have developed and adapted to meet the needs of society locally 70 years later