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A Brief history of Mearnskirk
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The opening of Mearnskirk
Hospital in Renfrewshire on the 1st May 1930 marked
the completion of the institutional portion of the scheme
for the prevention of Tuberculosis (TB). The first steps
were taken in 1890 when the Corporation of Glasgow obtained
power with regard to milk production to control certain
strains of the disease known to be of Bovine origin.
Prior to 1913 there were no institutions specifically
for TB, patients were usually incarcerated in general
and fever hospitals or sanatoria belonging to other
authorities. However in 1913 three sanatoria pavilions
were made available at Ruchill Hospital followed in
1914 with Bellfield Sanatoria at Lanark. Mearnskirk
was the last to be built, and it was decided to devote
the whole institution to the treatment of children under
fifteen years. The hospital was able to accommodate
500 children requiring orthopaedic treatment. It was
also designed in such a way that the main pavilions
had a south western exposure which enabled them to obtain
the maximum amount of sunshine.
During WWII the hospital gradually
assumed the new role of an emergency medical service
hospital. In 1940 the Department of Health instructed
that four of the huts at Mearnskirk be set aside for
the treatment of adult TB, due to the rise amongst the
civilian population.
The work at Mearnskirk was changing
with the introduction of adult patients and also the
opening of the Thoracic Unit in 1946 and the Ear, Nose
and Throat unit in 1948. After 1955 there was a decline
in the number of children with bone and joint TB. The
low rate is in keeping with the general improvements
in child health and advances in the practice of medicine.
The rise of adult patients over children brought around
the change from Mearnskirk as a hospital for children
to a General Hospital.
To find out
more about the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons
of Glasgow, please visit their
website.
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