Information about this hospital might be outdated.
Details
Previous Names
Newcastle (Board of Guardians) Workhouse Hospital (1840 - 1921)
Wingrove Hospital (1921 - 1930); The General Hospital
Address
Westgate Road, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE4 6BE
Current Trust
Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust (since 1998)
Foundation Year
1840
Status
Open
Administrative Authorities
Regional Board (1948-1974)
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
Management Committee (1948-1974)
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
Regional Authority (1974-1982)
Northern
Regional Authority (Post-1982)
Northern
District Authority (1974-1982)
Newcastle
District Authority (Post-1982)
Newcastle
Pre-1974 County
Northumberland
Post-1974 County
Tyne and Wear
Post-1996 County
Tyne and Wear
Status
Pre-1948
Local Authority, Poor Law
Pre-1948 information
PLI: 1840 - 1930.
LA: 1930 - 1948.
Post-1948
NHS
Type
Pre-1948
General, Isolation, Maternity
Post-1948
Acute
Other information
In 1839 the Newcastle Board of Guardians decided to build a Union Workhouse on Westgate Hill to centralise facilities for Newcastle's poor. The first buildings to be completed were the Administration Block, a school for children and the workhouse which was to give accommodation to the able-bodied poor and care for the sick poor, maternity cases and imbeciles. By 1859 it had become apparent that facilities for the sick were most undesirable and so the Board of Guardians gave the go-ahead for a separate hospital to be built. The hospital was designed by the Newcastle architect Septimus Oswald and was officially opened on 7 December 1870 by Thomas Ridley, Chairman of the Board of Guardians. By 1914, much development had taken place providing about 500 beds in 5 buildings. In 1921 a separate hospital administration was set up and it was renamed Wingrove Hospital. In 1930 under the new Local Government Act it was handed over to the City Council and the name changed to The General Hospital.