The Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital

Description

The Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital is situated in the heart of Aylesbury the county town of Buckinghamshire

Aylesbury is well connected for the national road and rail network and Heathrow Airport

The International Spinal Injuries amp Rehabilitation Centre housed at the Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital in Aylesbury provides patient centred interdisciplinary rehabilitation programmes for patients with spinal injury head injury strokes and neurological conditions

The Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital was once the main hospital for Buckinghamshire The main building dating from 1862 was the first civilian hospital incorporating the design ideas of Florence Nightingale It has been private since 1994 when it became home to The International Spinal Injuries and Rehabilitation Centre Since then it has been extensively modernised

The Centre has well equipped and a spacious rehabilitation gymnasium and an occupational therapy department New facilities have been added including a 85m hydrotherapy pool and outpatient clinic

ACCOMMODATION
Accommodation is designed to make the patients stay as comfortable as possible To achieve this all rooms are single mostly ensuite with a wheelchair shower All are equipped with direct dial telephone television and a video or DVD player Wireless web access is also available Public rooms are available to receive visitors and all car parking is free There is a range of affordable self contained accommodation with cooking facilities on site for visitors and relatives

History

BACKGROUND

The present building was formally opened in June 1862 Its design was heavily influenced by Florence Nightingale In fact it was the first civilian hospital to be built incorporating her designs She designed the wide staircases the ward heating and ventilation system and even the size and position of the wards Letters with her comments on the plans to her brotherinlaw Sir Harry Verney are on file at The Bucks County Library

From A History of Aylesbury by Robert Gibbs

The Buckinghamshire Infirmary

quotThe first movement for the establishment of an Infirmary emanated from the Newport Pagnell district This was in the year 1827 The distance of Newport from the centre of the country was an objection to the erection of a General Infirmary in that district and the subject passed into obeyance but it was not altogether overlooked Efforts in the meantime were made to obtain a list of subscribers which for a while lengthened but slowly Exiting but troublous times followed there was a general election in 1830 consequent upon the death of George IV In the same year there was an alarming discontent amongst the agricultural labourers with riots machine breaking and incendiary fires In the next year another general election took place still progress in the establishment of an Infirmary had been steadily made At a meeting called for furthering the project it was announced that pound5176 capital had been raised for purchase for building purposes and an annual subscription of pound255 was also promised Subsequently Dr Lee of Hartwell added a present of pound500 to the capital fund Subscribers increased the Rev John Dell of Walton the Duke of Buckingham Lord Carrington Lord Chesterfield Lord Grenville Sir H Verney Bart and others had already given a heartily adherence to the movement In January 1832 DrLee was in treaty for purchase of an eligible property situated at the junction of the Buckingham and Bicester Roads at Aylesbury and known as Dawneys Nursery This site was eventually secured upon which occasion Dr Lee made a second donation of pound500 expressly to aid in the completion of the purchase

There was already standing on the spot a neat substantial villa to this building two wings were added and the internal arrangements were altered and adapted to the purposes for which the building was being intended for the time being this was all that was requisite

On the 7th August 1833 a meeting of the governors was held when Messrs Robert and James Henry Ceely and MessrsYoung and Haywood offered their gratuities services as visiting surgeons Dr Lee was at this meeting elected the first president and the principal wards were named the Lee ward and the Verney ward Mr Rickford was also appointed treasurer so that the establishment was now in working order Concerts balls and sermons were brought into requisition to aid the funds all were highly successful and the proceeds greatly increased the funds A bazaar in aid realised nearly pound1000 profit

At the second annual meeting Dr Lee was reelected president and in the following year he was succeeded by Sir Harry Verney Bart as the second president Sir Harry had shared energetically in the work of establishing the Infirmary in conjunction with Dr Lee and others In 1838 the financial state of the Institution was not satisfactory but remained only temporarily so At the general annual meeting in August of that year it was resolved to make great effort to improve the funds and a ball concert and bazaar were again resorted to and were held under the patronage of the governors these were spiritedly supported by the public and the result was a profit of pound1142 to the funds In October 1841 a meeting of the subscribers was held for the purpose of considering the appointment of a chaplain a strong feeling was evinced against the proposition and it was thought best to defer it Two months later the subject was reopened with the proposition to devote a sum of money subscribed by the Radcliffe Trustees to the general fund to form a chaplaincy fund On this occasion a vote was taken the majority was against the proposition and a voluntary Chaplaincy fund was resolved on by those who had pressed the question

There could not be a greater proof of the usefulness of this institution or of the benefits it had conferred on the poorer classes than the fact that the building was found to be too small for its requirements Not being originally built for the purposes of an Infirmary there were defects in the construction of it which could not well be remedied After several meetings had been held and the whole subject thoroughly considered the Committee came to the conclusion to rebuild entirely Arrangements for the temporary removal of the patients and the continuance of the affairs of the Infirmary having been made the place was vacated the materials sold by auction and the erection of a new building commenced forthwith

On the 30th of April 1861 the foundation stone of the new Infirmary was laid by Lady Verney and in June 1862 it was formally opened The building which is of the order technically known as Roman Doric consists of a central portion and two wings the centre comprising four stories and the wings two On the ground floor after passing through the hall the visitor finds the matrons sittingroom on his right hand and the housesurgeons on the left the corresponding bedrooms being placed opposite in the rear of the building In the west wing are the matrons and other storerooms porters room pupils room board room and chapel and secretarys office In the east wing the physicians room surgeons consulting room and patients waiting room with dispensary laboratory etc The basement story which occupies only the central portion of the building comprises the kitchen scullery larder beercellar coalcellar etc Ascending the easy and welllighted staircase we reach the principal floor containing the patients wards These are spacious rooms 81 feet by 25 and 16 feet high the female ward being named after the venerable Dr Lee and the male ward after the late Lady Verney Each ward contains 22 beds The ventilation is secured partly by the windows which range along both sides of the wards but more especially by a shaft which admits the external air through brass gratings in the floor the exit of heated air being provided for by a simple escape placed over each window Cheerful open firegrates are placed in each ward The floors are of oak the walls of polished cement and special care has been taken to use no material which in course of time would absorb the noxious exhalations of the sick room On this floor are placed two bye wards for special cases which it may be necessary to isolate the sculleries nurses rooms ampc On the second floor which like the basement occupies the centre only of the building is situated the operating room to which the patients are conveyed by a lift and which is thus entirely out of sight and hearing of the patients in the wards Here also are the servants bedrooms and other offices Lifts are fitted in the centre of the building one for the conveyance of food from the kitchen the other for raising coals ampc to the upper portion of the building The ground belonging to the Institution including that occupied by the building itself is about two acres and is enclosed by a boundary wall The total sum expended amounted to pound11179 To meet this expenditure the committee received subscriptions to the general fund amounting to pound6705 3s 11d and special subscriptions of pound1612s The amount raised by the sale of the old building and trees was pound549 9s the total profit of the bazaar pound1736 13s 7d The money withdrawn from the capital of the Institution for building purposes amounted to pound2055 1s

The latest addition to the establishment I is the Sanatorium for the use of the convalescent patients it is built at the rear of the Infirmary This originated with the late Rev C Erle who bequeathed pound300 for its erection It has recently been enlarged and greatly improved it is very neatly furnished supplied with books and periodicals and is a very agreeable retreat to those patients whose recovery is advanced sufficiently to enable them to visit it and it is a valuable feature in the institution It is through the exertions and liberal subscription of Mr Cazenove the Lilies that the late improvements to the Sanatorium has been completed The architect both of the Infirmary and the Sanatorium was Mr D Brandon of Berkeley Square London

With the Infirmary must ever be associated the name of John Lee Esq LLD of Hartwell who was so instrumental in its original formation and a munificent donor to its treasury Dr Lee was born in 1783 and was the eldest son of John Fiott Esq of London who married Harriet daughter of William Lee Esq of Totteridge Herts he took the name of Lee by Royal mandate in 1815 The family of the Lees have owned the Hartwell estate since the junction of the houses of Hampden and Lee AD 1570 and the Hampden family trace back their possession to the year 1268 The Rev Sir George Lee the sixth baronet dying unmarried in 1827 bequeathed the mansion and estates to Dr Lee who was the representative of both branches of the family and was seized of the estates of Hartwell Totteridge in Herts and Colworth in Bedfordshire He was entered at St Johns College Cambridge of which he became a Fellow He was fifth wrangler in 1808 As a travelling bachelor of the University he visited Egypt Arabia and Asia Minor It was at this time that he formed that taste for the collection of antiquities to which the collections at Hartwell bore testimony A year of two before his death he was made a QC by Lord Chancellor Westbury an honour which it is said afforded him great satisfaction he was a fellow of the Royal Society and also a Fellow and for two years the President of the Royal Astronomical Society He was a member of the Geological the Geographical the British Meteorological the British Archaeological the SyroEqyptian the Asiatic the Chronological the Numismatic and other learned Societies Of Dr Lees benevolence as a landlord and a master it is unnecessary to speak He married in 1833 Miss Cecilia Rutter and in 1855 Miss Louisa C Heath stepdaughter of Mr Robert Wilkinson of Totteridge Park Herts He died in 1866 and was succeeded in the estates by his nephew Mr E Dyke Lee

Another worthy patron of the Infirmary was the Rev Christopher Erle MA FGS JP ampc the rector of Hardwick who died in 1870 at the age of 83 years The rev gentleman was the elder brother of the Right Hon Sir William Erle late Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and like him was educated at New College Oxford He was inducted into the living Hardwick which falls in succession to the senior bachelor of the College in the year 1834 Mr Erle was one of the most liberal supporters of the Infirmary his contributions to which were far greater in proportion than those of many of much larger means His last public act was one which showed his great love for the Institution his kind donation of three hundred guineas for the erection of the Sanatorium beforementioned

A third name closely connected with the general management of the Bucks Infirmary must not be passed overthat of the late Mr Robert Ceely of Aylesbury No one connected with this district had formed wider associations associations which included all classes nor could anyone be more generally beloved His manner was so genial kind and affectionate that a friendship having been once formed with him was assiduously cultivated Mr Ceelys choice of the profession was made early in life His first practice of it was intended for the service of the East India Company but this was overruled by medical advice and his career opened in March 1821 at Aylesbury The commencement of his practice was in conjunction with Mr Henry Hickman jun a representative of a very ancient and highly respected Aylesbury family Mr Hickman died soon after Mr Ceely joined him Mr Ceelys heart and soul were in his profession He gave attention to the subject of vaccination in which he felt great interest He became a champion of cleanliness and sanitary matters under his interference and recommendations improved Those who are old enough will not fail to recollect the invaluable services rendered by him when Aylesbury was afflicted with a severe visitation of that dire disease cholera in 1832 In 1840 he published in the Transactions of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Associations Observations on the Variolae Vaccine as they occasionally appear in the Vale of Aylesbury with an account of some recent experiments on vaccination This publication having met with much approval and encouragement in 1842 he published further observations on the same subject In his profession he was no respector of persons the occupier of the lowliest cottage or the most miserable hut received from him the same degree of care and attention as the resident in the most stately mansion Mr Ceely in conjunction with his brother Mr JH Ceely gave his gratuitous services to the Bucks Infirmary from the date of it original foundation he regularly kept his appointments there his name as receiving medical surgeon appearing up to the time of his death He held the appointment of surgeon to Her Majestys prison he was medical officer to the Aylesbury Union and the Aylesbury Board of Health he was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and Licentiate of the College of Apothecaries and was also a member of several medical and other scientific societies Mr Ceelys death took place in 1880 he had been ill from the effects of a severe cold but little more than a week The subscribers and friends of the Bucks Infirmary presented him with his portrait It is a threequarter length and was executed by Mr Storey It hangs in the board room of the Institution in which are also placed the portraits of Sir Harry Verney Dr Lee and other distinguished benefactors to the hospital

Notice only has been taken of those patrons of the Infirmary who have passed from us but in a history of the establishment which may be handed down to future generations it would be exceedingly ungenerous not to record with his compeers the name of Sir Harry Verney Bart Sir Harry was one of the earliest promoters of the Institution and a liberal donor to the first fund he followed Dr Lee as president and for more than half a century has been untiring in his efforts to maintain the efficiency of the establishment devoting much labour to both its general and detailed managementquot