Nursing in Manchester

Contains cuttings and flyers relating to nursing homes, promotion of nursing and articles on recruitment problems, and official reports on mental health nursing and nurse training.

The 1860s saw the beginning of formal nurse training with the development of private nursing institutions and formal training at hospitals. Chorlton Union Hospital pioneered the use of formally trained nurses in poor-law hospitals. Nurse training was organised by voluntary institutions, later by local government in cooperation with the universities and hospitals. The late nineteenth century saw the development of district nursing in Manchester and also the growth of private nursing homes. In the 1950s and 1960s, nursing in Manchester was subject to major recruitment problems, exacerbated by poor salaries and working conditions. Sir Harry Platt, professor of orthopaedics at Manchester University, chaired the Special Committee on Nurse Education which produced a seminal report in 1964. This period marked the beginning of increasing professionalisation of nursing.

See MMC/8/12 for Manchester and Salford Sick Poor and Private Nursing Institution.

See the Platt papers for material on the Platt Report on Nurse Education and papers relating to nurses' prize givings in the region (GB-133-PLA).