Tuesday 1 April 2008

East Malling Isolation Hospital

The Hospital of Infectious Diseases was also known in East Malling as an Isolation Hospital (thanks to Godfrey King's comment on my previous post). Armed with this new knowledge and with the British Journal of Nursing in my sights I set about finding some more information on this elusive hospital (other than the fantastic comments received so far). It turns out the Royal College of Nursing have an archive of the journal dating back to the early 1900s. The journal frequently refers to the Isolation Hospital, mainly to congratulate a Miss M. Cooke (whom appears to be a resident at the hospital around 1905) for submitting the correct answers in the guinea prize puzzle or quiz that was a regular feature of the journal. Other mentions have included: a Miss M. A. Hayles being appointed Staff Nurse at the hospital (August 1904); and, a Miss Richards, of East Malling, being unanimously elected a member of the Infectious Hospitals' Matrons' Association (March 1932). That's it I'm afraid. Hopefully we can revisit this one as (or, if) more information becomes available.