Tredegar General Hospital
Encyclopedia
Tredegar General Hospital is a community hospital in Tredegar
, Blaenau Gwent
, Wales
providing rehabilitation and GP in-patient care with 85 full and part-time staff and 58 beds in two wards. There is a small 24 hour minor casualty unit staffed by nurses. The hospital is operated by the Aneurin Bevan Local Health Board
.
Tredegar General Hospital was opened in December 1904. In 1901, the Tredegar Medical Aid Society
had convened a public meeting to discuss the establishment of a hospital and eventually a committee of more than 30 members was set up to build and manage it.
Land for the new Tredegar Park Cottage Hospital, as it was then called, was donated by Lord Tredegar. Funding came from the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company, other local employers and organisations, private and public donations and "above all" by the workmen mainly from the pits who agreed to maintain the hospital by having an extra halfpenny a week deducted from their wages.
Walter Conway
was employed as secretary of the Medical Aid Society from 1915. He is attributed with organising the society as well as being a mentor to Aneurin Bevan
who went to be Minister of Health.
Aneurin Bevan
, who introduced the National Health Service
in 1948, was a member of the Cottage Hospital Management Committee around 1928 and was chairman in 1929/30. The hospital now has an extension known as the Aneurin Bevan Medical Centre, and a portrait of Bevan hangs in the hospital's foyer.
A.J. Cronin, whose 1937 novel, The Citadel
, brought much attention to Tredegar's grassroots
healthcare system, worked as a doctor at the Cottage Hospital during the early 1920s.
Tredegar
Tredegar is a town situated on the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in south-east Wales. Located within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the Industrial Revolution in South Wales...
, Blaenau Gwent
Blaenau Gwent
Blaenau Gwent is a county borough in South Wales, sharing its name with a parliamentary constituency. It borders the unitary authority areas of Monmouthshire and Torfaen to the east, Caerphilly to the west and Powys to the north. Its main towns are Abertillery, Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale and...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
providing rehabilitation and GP in-patient care with 85 full and part-time staff and 58 beds in two wards. There is a small 24 hour minor casualty unit staffed by nurses. The hospital is operated by the Aneurin Bevan Local Health Board
Aneurin Bevan Local Health Board
Aneurin Bevan Local Health Board is an NHS Wales organisation in south Wales, headquartered in Pontypool.The Local Health Board was launched in October 2009 through the merger of Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust and Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Newport, Torfaen and Monmouthshire LHBs...
.
Tredegar General Hospital was opened in December 1904. In 1901, the Tredegar Medical Aid Society
Tredegar Medical Aid Society
Tredegar Medical Aid Society was founded in Tredegar in South Wales. In return for a contribution from its members it supplied free health care. This society contributed the model which established the British National Health Service...
had convened a public meeting to discuss the establishment of a hospital and eventually a committee of more than 30 members was set up to build and manage it.
Land for the new Tredegar Park Cottage Hospital, as it was then called, was donated by Lord Tredegar. Funding came from the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company, other local employers and organisations, private and public donations and "above all" by the workmen mainly from the pits who agreed to maintain the hospital by having an extra halfpenny a week deducted from their wages.
Walter Conway
Walter Conway
Walter Conway was the distinguished Secretary of the Tredegar Medical Aid Society in South Wales. This society contributed the model which established the British National Health Service.-Biography:...
was employed as secretary of the Medical Aid Society from 1915. He is attributed with organising the society as well as being a mentor to Aneurin Bevan
Aneurin Bevan
Aneurin "Nye" Bevan was a British Labour Party politician who was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1959 until his death in 1960. The son of a coal miner, Bevan was a lifelong champion of social justice and the rights of working people...
who went to be Minister of Health.
Aneurin Bevan
Aneurin Bevan
Aneurin "Nye" Bevan was a British Labour Party politician who was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1959 until his death in 1960. The son of a coal miner, Bevan was a lifelong champion of social justice and the rights of working people...
, who introduced the National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
in 1948, was a member of the Cottage Hospital Management Committee around 1928 and was chairman in 1929/30. The hospital now has an extension known as the Aneurin Bevan Medical Centre, and a portrait of Bevan hangs in the hospital's foyer.
A.J. Cronin, whose 1937 novel, The Citadel
The Citadel (novel)
The Citadel is a novel by A. J. Cronin, first published in 1937, which was groundbreaking with its treatment of the contentious theme of medical ethics. It is credited with laying the foundation in Great Britain for the introduction of the NHS a decade later...
, brought much attention to Tredegar's grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
healthcare system, worked as a doctor at the Cottage Hospital during the early 1920s.