"Gobowen" Orthopaedic Hospital

A Memory of Oswestry.

I remember this hospital with mixed emotions. As a child of 5/6 in 1953/4 I was taken by my Dad weekly to visit my mother who had spinal fusion surgery - I think Mr Rose was the name of the surgeon. Spinal fusion surgery was still new - and risky - and Mum was a patient there for at least 12 months. I don't remember which ward she was on but it could easily have been one of the two in the photo.
The sides of the ward were glass and could be folded back so patients were able to be wheeled out into the sunshine and fresh air. If you look closely at this photo, on the right hand side you can see just such a bed. Brings back some difficult memories but vital just the same.
Back then a plaster cast was put on after surgery from the neck right down the body including the leg from which the graft bone was harvested. This rendered the patient immobile for many months. Patients (at least my Mum) graduated to a steel corset and walked - eventually - with the aid of crutches.
These days spinal fusions are almost routine, the bone is harvested from the hip and recovery is much quicker. The end of the story is that my mother finally recovered after many years and was able to live a fairly normal life - even becoming an exercise leader at night school! She died age 76 from an unrelated illness. The hospital is now called the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital. Well done them!