St lukes hospital guildford history
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The origins of St Luke’s Hospital lie in the Guildford Poor Law Union Workhouse built in 1838.
St lukes hospital guildford history
It housed 300 paupers and was run by a Workhouse Master and Matron, reporting to a local Board of Guardians. These reported, in turn, to the central government Poor Law Commissioners (later renamed Poor Law Board and then Local Government Board).
Conditions within the workhouse were grim, but sufficient to keep the pauper inmates alive.
The rationale was to make life inside the Workhouse worse than that of a basic agricultural worker in the world outside. Food was basic and monotonous.
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In return for their keep the inmates had to perform basic labouring tasks, such as wood chopping, agriculture, laundry, cleaning, and oakum picking.
The 1838 Workhouse included a surgery and small male and female “infirmary” wards.
These were most likely just basic rooms with two or three beds where sick inmates could be kept away from other inmates to prevent contagion. There were no dedicated nursing s