Peoples Stories - Bevendean History Project
Robert Brown Remembers Bevendean Hospital
I have happy memoirs of working at Bevendean Hospital.
I started dealing with in-patients straight after I had finished the Brighton General Outpatient clinics. Then I would do my rounds of Brighton General doing the ward cases. When I have finished at Brighton General Hospital I would go to Bevendean Hospital to see the inpatients.
It was the elm wards that I dealt with. This was for rheumatoid inpatients on six weeks complete bed rest.
I use to take all sizes of wrist splints, surgical collars and I did a made to measure service with items such as surgical shoes and Belts for the patients with lower back pain.
What a waste of money.
In the last nine months that it was open the hospital closed the elm wards down and spent one million pounds doing the wards up with new paint. Double glazing all through and new sinks and toilet.
They opened up the wards for a few weeks and then closed the hospital down for good.
When they were closing down, staff could take all the things like cabinets, tables and chairs, as they were not needed in the other hospitals. One physiotherapist ask me if I could take some cabinets in the scout mini-bus to her home.
After cub evening I took the mini-bus with some other leaders, to collect some items for her. We arrived and we entered the administration block and we filled up the mini-bus. As we started to drive away, a security guard with a dog, asked where we are going with the equipment. I said we taking it to a physiotherapist’s home as the hospital did not want it. How do I know you are telling me the truth? As there were no mobile phones in those days, we had to go to his guardroom and I phoned up the physiotherapist and got her explain to him.
Unbeknown to me he had pressed an assist button and two men came down to help him. Then I got the physiotherapist to speak to him. He knew her and the day staff should have put notes on the item to say we would pick up the items.
After it was sorted out we all left worn out and thank god no police turned up.
I know all the staff as they nursed my father in his last weeks and we became good friends.
Robert Brown, MBE.
If you have any pictures or memories of the Bevendean Estate to share please use the contacts page.
I have happy memoirs of working at Bevendean Hospital.
I started dealing with in-patients straight after I had finished the Brighton General Outpatient clinics. Then I would do my rounds of Brighton General doing the ward cases. When I have finished at Brighton General Hospital I would go to Bevendean Hospital to see the inpatients.
It was the elm wards that I dealt with. This was for rheumatoid inpatients on six weeks complete bed rest.
I use to take all sizes of wrist splints, surgical collars and I did a made to measure service with items such as surgical shoes and Belts for the patients with lower back pain.
What a waste of money.
In the last nine months that it was open the hospital closed the elm wards down and spent one million pounds doing the wards up with new paint. Double glazing all through and new sinks and toilet.
They opened up the wards for a few weeks and then closed the hospital down for good.
When they were closing down, staff could take all the things like cabinets, tables and chairs, as they were not needed in the other hospitals. One physiotherapist ask me if I could take some cabinets in the scout mini-bus to her home.
After cub evening I took the mini-bus with some other leaders, to collect some items for her. We arrived and we entered the administration block and we filled up the mini-bus. As we started to drive away, a security guard with a dog, asked where we are going with the equipment. I said we taking it to a physiotherapist’s home as the hospital did not want it. How do I know you are telling me the truth? As there were no mobile phones in those days, we had to go to his guardroom and I phoned up the physiotherapist and got her explain to him.
Unbeknown to me he had pressed an assist button and two men came down to help him. Then I got the physiotherapist to speak to him. He knew her and the day staff should have put notes on the item to say we would pick up the items.
After it was sorted out we all left worn out and thank god no police turned up.
I know all the staff as they nursed my father in his last weeks and we became good friends.
Robert Brown, MBE.
If you have any pictures or memories of the Bevendean Estate to share please use the contacts page.
1 February 2021
Bev_Estate_story_023