Royal Hospital West Street

I was in the Royal when I was about 9 to get my cross eye fixed.

 

It worked out well, and I never "looked" back Never wore glasses again until I got old.

 

I was in the men's ward in the new section, and I remember the nurses applying leaches to patient's heads to reduce bleeding and swelling after operations.

 

In the ward was a fish aquarium where they kept the little buggers alive. Ugh!

 

We've come a long way!

Aren't leeches coming back into usage for certain medical conditions nowadays?

I was in the Royal hospital,Arthur Jackson ward  in1971 with a broken Femur...three months on traction,over Christmas and received the best nursing care from the absolute superstars on that ward.

As I recall the ward was run by sister Whitehead in the most impeccable manner...very strict but also very fair,no TV allowed on the ward,but she let us smoke,and we even got to pass the whiskey bottle round at christmas(of course not when she was on duty)

It was a men only ward and orthopaedic and we must have tried the patience of the nursing staff sorely. 

I had my Tonsils out in the Royal on my 13th Birthday , i was in there a week , not like today . And Bothamlad i remember you breaking your leg .

Jim.

On 3/9/2018 at 9:12 AM, bothamlad said:

In january 1973,i had my first experience of hospital life !! i suffered a broken fema playing football.I spent just over 3 months in the royal,stuck in the same bed surrounded by traction ,leg raised in a metal caliper with weights on the end.I had just turned 17 at the time so i struggled at first with being confined to that bed.All the staff were amazing,so friendly and caring.I remember a young trainee nurse,she had ginger hair and used to massage my foot with cream because the skin was cracking and became sore,she also washed my hair as well.It was sad a couple of years later to see the royal hospital being demolished.

My friend and I both had our first placements after Pre-nursing college at the Royal in 1973. She worked on Arthur Jackson ward, and, she had lovely Auburn hair. It could have been her that was your foot massager bothamlad.

Mikesmith, i'm glad you remembered the name of the orthopaedic ward.i remember it being a chaps name but couldnt remember who !! So many guys came and went when i was in for that long 3months. One guy opposite me came in with a broken neck,he was in a car crash travelling up to hampden park to watch england v scotland, He had mirrors all round his bed so he could see the other patients.We chatted over the next month or so until i was discharged,calliper on and crutches. It felt strange to go over and shake his hand after all that time.

5 hours ago, EffEff said:

My friend and I both had our first placements after Pre-nursing college at the Royal in 1973. She worked on Arthur Jackson ward, and, she had lovely Auburn hair. It could have been her that was your foot massager bothamlad.

Hi EffEff, yes it may have been her.Unfortunately i can't remember her name.Her hair was long so she had to wear it up.I do remember she was dating a guy quite a bit older than herself at the time.She was very friendly and kind,couldn't do enough for us and im sure she would have gone on to be an excellent nurse.

When I was in theRoyal,Arthur Jackson ward 1971 with a broken Femur,Sister Whitheads domain,there was a young student Nurse called Sonia who was wonderful,always meant to keep in touch after being discharged but events took over and never did.

Remember with being on traction the weights kept dragging me down the bed and she used to haul me back up again.

16 hours ago, Mikesmith said:

When I was in theRoyal,Arthur Jackson ward 1971 with a broken Femur,Sister Whitheads domain,there was a young student Nurse called Sonia who was wonderful,always meant to keep in touch after being discharged but events took over and never did.

Remember with being on traction the weights kept dragging me down the bed and she used to haul me back up again.

Same for me. What about the weekly x-rays,the portable machine and the metal plates under your leg, !! then having the weights removed,and my leg slowly straightened a bit each day and the bed lowered.i remember hanging on to the bed for dear life,was sure i was going to slide off . Those were the days !!!

7 hours ago, bothamlad said:

Same for me. What about the weekly x-rays,the portable machine and the metal plates under your leg, !! then having the weights removed,and my leg slowly straightened a bit each day and the bed lowered.i remember hanging on to the bed for dear life,was sure i was going to slide off . Those were the days !!!

And then the first day out of bed,learning how to use crutches and worrying about refracturing,the Physios were brilliant though.

Ihad what was called a dropped foot,was told it would never recover but after being discharged for about a month ,one morning I saw my toe move and then over the next few months the trapped nerve grew back and was able to remove the caliper...big relief.  

Bothamlad , PM sent.

I hope .

If you were female and worked at the Royal and half decent looking in 1970-4 then you would certainly have got a wolf whistle from the lads at Brakesafe on the corner of Westfield terrace and West St,I used to go out with a girl on the switch board Linda M.