The Unit commemorates the late Dr John Farman, who was a consultant anaesthetist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital between 1966 and the year of his sudden, unexpected death in 1988. In January 1989 the new intensive care unit was opened. Dr Farman was responsible for intensive care at the old and new Addenbrooke’s Hospitals, after succeeding Dr …
Month: January 2018
A snapshot of the Women of Cambridge
Next Tuesday marks 100 years since women first got the vote on the 6th of February 1918. Cam Vote 100 has organised a project to capture a 24 hour snapshot in the lives of The Women of Cambridge. They are creating a photographic archive starting at midnight on Tuesday 6 February 2018, taking snaps of ourselves and the women …
Heating the Hospital
A few weeks ago I mentioned the method used for heating water in the theatres in the late nineteenth century, by heating kettles on open fires. The same method was used on the wards to heat water for hot baths. A Hot Water Committee was set up to investigate this matter and also the heating …
Nineteenth Century Nursing
An advertisement for Matron in 1834 included the following: The candidates must be free from the burden of children and the care of a family and not above the age of 50 years and produce certificates of their ages – the salary is £50 per annum and Board and Washing in the house’. Up to …
Hot water and the laundry
In 1898 a new theatre was built at the Hospital with the help of a donation of £1,000 from Alexander Peckover of Wisbech. The Operating Theatre committee held a meeting to consider the matter of heating water in the theatre. The existing system for heating the water was by heating kettles on an open fire. …
Hospitals before Addenbrooke’s
Before the 18th century, medical treatment was for most people a matter of traditional folk remedies supplied by popular healers (for example, wise or cunning women), although a number of professional surgeons existed from at least the 16th century and some charitable hospitals had been established in the Middle Ages. There was widespread acceptance of …
