Paddington
Orthopaedic
V.A.D. Hospital
V.A.D. Hospital
37 Porchester Terrace, Bayswater, W2
Medical
dates:
Medical
character:
Convalescent (military). Later, orthopaedic (military)
The Paddington V.A.D. (No. 1)
Hospital opened on 15th April 1916 with 65 beds for wounded and sick
servicemen. It was designated a Class A hospital and was
affiliated to Queen Alexandra's Military Hospital.
In January 1918 it was the first V.A.D. hospital to be equipped to deal with orthopaedic cases and became an annexe to the Military Surgical Hospital in Hammersmith. By this time it had 85 beds; the nursing staff consisted of 3 trained nurses assisted by 25 full-time V.A.D. nurses.
On 18th January, ex-King Manuel of Portugal, who had been assigned a post in the British Red Cross, visited the Hospital and its patients.
The Hospital had a small well-appointed operating theatre, where 153 operations were performed, some of them complex.
The Hospital closed on 1st July 1919. Of the 483 patients admitted during its operational lifetime, only one had died.
An Out-Patients Clinic was established in the building to provide continued care for discharged servicemen. It moved in November 1919 to Hatherley Grove, opening as the Paddington Orthopaedic and Tropical Clinic.
In January 1918 it was the first V.A.D. hospital to be equipped to deal with orthopaedic cases and became an annexe to the Military Surgical Hospital in Hammersmith. By this time it had 85 beds; the nursing staff consisted of 3 trained nurses assisted by 25 full-time V.A.D. nurses.
On 18th January, ex-King Manuel of Portugal, who had been assigned a post in the British Red Cross, visited the Hospital and its patients.
The Hospital had a small well-appointed operating theatre, where 153 operations were performed, some of them complex.
The Hospital closed on 1st July 1919. Of the 483 patients admitted during its operational lifetime, only one had died.
An Out-Patients Clinic was established in the building to provide continued care for discharged servicemen. It moved in November 1919 to Hatherley Grove, opening as the Paddington Orthopaedic and Tropical Clinic.
Present status (October 2010)
The building was replaced in the 1930s by Irvine Court.
Irvine Court itself was destroyed during WW2 when it received a direct hit in a bombing raid in February 1944. Three people were killed.
Porchester Terrace has since been renumbered and the site of the Hospital is now occupied by No. 75 Porchester Terrace.
No.75 Porchester Terrace.
One of the wards in
the Hospital.
(Photograph courtesy of Sue Light, Lancing, West Sussex)
(Photograph courtesy of Sue Light, Lancing, West Sussex)
(Author unstated) 1917 List of the various hospitals terating military cases in the United Kingdom. London, H.M.S.O.
(Author unstated) 1925 The British Red Cross Society. County of London Branch Annual Reports 1914-1924. London, Harrison & Sons.
Reid H 1949 British Red Cross Society. Story of the County of London Branch. London, British Red Cross Society.
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