Builth Cottage Hospital, A Centenary History 1897-1997, by Gwen Davies
Foreword | Acknowledgements | Prologue Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6
Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 |
Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Epilogue
The League of Hospital Friends, by Betts Pugh
Builth, Queen of the Wye, by Jim Davies
Chapter Nine - a) The Interim
Period, b) The Death of Dr Stephen Pugh
Although the final Annual General Meeting had been held in February
1948, the house Management Committee continued to meet so that
the work of the hospital could carry on without a hitch. The
members of this committee were anxious to replace all the furniture,
floor covering and bedding which had become work and shabby, before
handing over to the Board of Health and they compiled a lengthy
shopping list of goods, amounting to £553.0.2d, which they
proceeded to purchase.
These items included chairs, beds, wash boiler, light fittings,
cutlery, wireless sets, a sewing machine, dinner wagon, bureau/bookcase,
lino and carpets and easy chairs, apparently wishing to hand over
goods in preference to cash and to ensure that their hospital would
enjoy the fruits of their labour.
The saga of the lift continued. Fifty years after being
installed it was still being manually operated by the staff.
March 1948 – The question of electrifying the lift was discussed. It
was decided to ask the makers for advice.
May 1948 – The makers had agree to inspect the lift but
had not done so.
August 5th 1948 – The Secretary of the new Management Committee
was asked to contact the Welsh Regional Board concerning the adaptation
of the lift to electric power.
August 21st 1948 – It was resolved that a replacement lift
to be the first priority of the Brecon and Radnor Hospital Management
Committee. The Secretary was instructed to obtain a price. A
quotation of £488 for the installation of a new lift was
received from Messrs G Brady of Manchester; the Secretary was instructed
to place the order forthwith.
Incredibly it was not until 1959, when major alterations to the
hospital were undertaken, that a new electrically powered lift
was installed!
So that Builth hospital could have a strong representation on
the Brecon and Radnor Hospital Management committee, which would
be the new administrative body three names were submitted to the
Board of Health for inclusion on the committee. These were:
- Mr Meredith Jones, Mr J S Davies and Mr D J Evans. However,
when the committee structure was published it was found that not
one member from Builth had been appointed. A very strong
letter of protest was sent to the Regional Health board and to
the Welsh Board of Health expressing deep dissatisfaction at this
omission. In answer to this letter, a reply was received
from the regional health Board, saying that Mrs J G Eadie had been
appointed to represent the Builth Hospital on the Area Management
Committee.
At a meeting in March 1948 Dr Ken Pugh explained the urgent need
to set up a pathological laboratory with a technician in charge. This
was supported by Mr W S Pritchard and Rev K Brunsdon, the Vicar
of Builth, and it was agreed to proceed with this as soon as possible. The
laboratory, with Mr D A Richards in charge, was set up and fully
operational by July 1948. A scale of charges for laboratory
tests carried out for other hospitals was drawn up by a sub-committee
with the addition of the Vice-chairman and the Treasurer.
The burden of keeping the hospital on a sound financial footing
was becoming increasingly difficult and it says much for the commitment
of the Trustees who had to devote so much of their time to hospital
affairs, the things were enabled to run so efficiently. However,
in December 1947 a Special Meeting of the House Committee was called
to discuss the economic position. The Chairman, Mr Meredith
Jones explained that for the past months expenditure had been considerably
exceeded receipts and they had a £3,000 bank overdraft. In
addition he pointed out that they would be faced with further significant
expenditure in the coming months when they would have to pay for
replacements, repairs and refurbishment. He suggested that
the Trustees would have to consider selling Savings and Defence
bonds, which would together with a repayment mortgage of £2,000
wipe out their debts and leave a working balance.
It was decided to call a special meeting of Hospital Governors
immediately to obtain their approval of this course of action and
to receive their consent.
The Special Meeting was called on December 19th when the Trustees
were authorised to dispose of Savings Bonds to the value of £1,077and
Defence Bonds to the value of £780 and to t4ransfer £2,000
mortgage repayment to the General Account. They were further
authorised to dispose of further securities tin a similar manner,
if and when required.
In May 1948 on the proposition of Mr W S Pritchard, Dr Stephen
Pugh, who had retired from his practice, was appointed Consultant
Surgeon to the hospital. Members spoke of the years of service
which Dr Pugh had given to the hospital, of his brilliant surgery
and his devotion to his vocation. Sadly, Dr Pugh’s
health was deteriorating and he passed away on August 18th 1948. He
is buried in Llanelwedd churchyard, realising an oft expressed
with to be buried overlooking the River Wye. This deeply
caring man had dedicated his life to ministering to the sick from
1913 to 1926 as a Missionary Doctor in India and from 1926 to
1948 in the Builth area. As a memorial to him a wireless
system was installed in the hospital in 19509 and a plaque referring
to this an be seen in the hospital entrance hall.
Further evidence of the high esteem in which Dr Pugh was held
in the medical world is shown by the fact that in 1997, an intensive
care unit was opened, in his memory, at the Neyyoor Mission Hospital,
Tamil Nadu, India – the hospital where he worked. “The
new unit has been named “The Dr S H Pugh Special Block”.
The death of Dr Pugh, the retirement of Dr G P Driver and the
ending of the service given by all the voluntary Trustees, Governors
and Committee members who had given so much of themselves to the
hospital, marked the end of an era. But it was with hope
and confident assurance that they looked forward to the future
when they handed over the fruits of the labour to a new administration.
During the course of compiling this book, Mr Eddie Turner, a local
historian, drew attention to a most interesting article concerning
Dr Stephen Pugh, which was in his possession. Dr Somerwell
was the well known Everest Climber. It is fitting that the
tribute should be made know to a wider public. Below is an
extract from the article:
DESERVED TRIBUTE
By a well know author to a Builth Wells Medical Man
By Artifex (Ernest Hayes)
“After the expedition Dr Somerwell decided to look around India before
returning home. During his jaunt he made the most unexpected
discovery I the little village of Neyyoor, southern India, almost
on the tip of the Indian Peninsula. He stumbled upon the
biggest Missionary Hospital in the world – and
one which was established some years ago by the London Missionary
Society, and was amazed to find only one British doctor working
there, day and night, trying to relieve the sufferings of a
dense and almost destitute mass of humanity. Strangely
enough the doctor mentioned is Dr Pugh, now of Builth Wells. Literally
taking off his coat, Somerwell offer to do Dr Pugh’s operations
for a few days to give him a slight change and rest. Dr
Pugh is considered to be a born surgeon and this is the testimony
of men like Somerwell and other leading lights in the medical
world.
With thousands of patient requiring operations and hundreds of
thousands seeking treatment, Somerwell could not leave Neyyoor,
so he stayed there to help Dr Pugh in the battle against ill-health
and disease. They performed dozens of operations every day,
and had frequent calls in the night. The mountain climber
became a medical missionary and this chiefly was a result of the
great work done by Dr Pugh.
The name of Dr Pugh is widely known in South India and he was
looked upon by all and sundry in the medical profession, and outside,
as one of the noblest men and the finest type of Christian gentlemanliness
(sic). Members of the Indian Medical service look upon him
as one of the greatest of surgeons and as a man who had a genius
and special gift for surgery and medicine. The people of
Builth Wells ought to consider themselves most fortunate in having
a man of Dr Pugh’s gifts and calibre in their midst. He
was compelled to return hom on account of overstrain and
ill-health. India’s loss has been a great gain for
Builth Wells and central Wales. In all his work he has been
tremendously helped by his excellent and ideal wife. Without
her aid he would never have been able to do what he did in India
and what he now accomplished in central Wales. Long may they
live and it is hoped that Builth Wells realised its great privilege
in having a worthy gentleman residing their town”.
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