A Patient's View

A Memory of Saffron Walden.

When I was eight I was admitted to Saffron Walden General Hospital for surgery. My parents were told that I would be discharged home at the end of the week. I vividly remember the feeling of being suffocated when the pad of chloroform was put over my face to anaesthetise me.
During the week a young girl was admitted to the ward with suspected Polio. She was put into a glass encased cubicle and the next day she was transferred to the isolation hospital. It was decided that all the children in the ward should be put into quarantine for three weeks, so my week turned into four!
Visiting hours were restricted to a short time in the afternoon on Tuesdays, Thursdays and at the weekends as it was considered unsettling for children to see their parents more frequently! The weeks seemed very long. However, it obviously didn't affect me too adversely as, ten years later, I trained to be a SRN (State Registered Nurse!)
In later years an extension was added to the hospital building and it is now the home of the local council offices.