A brief history of Whipps Cross Hospital
by Alan Simpson
In 1906, several of the West Ham Guardians were arrested on charges of conspiracy to defraud. An intriguing collection of items was discovered at Forest House and in the new infirmary, and it was thought that these pieces had been intended to furnish the homes of the arrested Guardians and others.
Essex County Chronicle, 15 June 1906
Mr. HODGKINS, the master [of the workhouse], who was only appointed about 15 months ago, declared that soon after he took over duty, he discovered large quantities of goods in a cellar at “Forest House.” The goods included kerb fenders, pokers, frying-pans, fish kettles, soup ladles, 25 dozen white and gold crockery, 74 dozen dinner plates, 11½ dozen basins, 5½ dozen wire guards, opal globes, 144 scarves, carriage candles, 17 dozen combs, 11 dozen brushes, and 29 blankets. They had been unable to discover who put these articles in the cellar, as the man in charge had recently died. The estimated value of the articles was about £330, he said, and he added that goods of a similar nature were discovered at the infirmary.
Originally there were no operating facilities at the new infirmary so, in 1912, an operating ‘room' was added and the number of operations soon reached 350 a year.
Essex County Chronicle, 1 December 1916
COSTLY SICK CHILDREN
At Stratford Police-court on Wednesday the Bench were told that the cost of keeping a sick baby, aged one year, in the West Ham Union Infirmary at Whipps Cross was 24s. 6d. a week. An official explained that the total cost of conducting the institution was divided by the number of patients, and it worked out at the figure mentioned for each patient.
The demand for workhouse places had lessened with the Liberal Government’s passing of the Old Age Pensions and National Insurance Acts in 1908 and 1911, so early in the First World War the Board of Guardians offered Forest House to the War Office as a convalescent home for wounded soldiers. Initially, the War Office did not take up this offer, but as the number of battlefield casualties increased 10 it sent an inspector to assess Forest House and the infirmary, from which he returned impressed by the ‘complete and modern equipment’. Consequently, in October 1917, the War Office opened a war hospital at Whipps Cross catering for 180 acute and 160 convalescent patients. These men were housed in Forest House, and in all of 'A' Block and part of 'B' Block in the main infirmary. The war hospital subsequently cared for some 6,000 wounded servicemen during the final 12 months of the First World War and into 1919.
On Saturday, 17 November 1917, the Royal Family paid an official visit to the infirmary to mark its new status as a war hospital. Local dignitaries and MPs attended, and the Aldersbrook brass band played to welcome King George V, Queen Mary and the Princess Royal, Princess Mary.
10 Approximately 2.5 million wounded soldiers from across the Commonwealth returned to Britain for treatment during and shortly after the First World War.
Leyton & Leytonstone
Historical Society
