Booth Hall Hospital

Booth Hall Hospital, Blackley, was built in 1908 by Prestwich Board of Guardians as a large general hospital. In the early years, the Hospital had a poor reputation; this was partly due to the poverty of patients and the proportion of long stay patients over accident cases which increased the mortality rate. Booth Hall was passed to the War Office in 1915 for use as a military hospital. However, in 1916, following the merger of the Prestwich and Manchester Unions, all the soldiers were transferred to Withington. Booth Hall was designated the children's hospital for the new Manchester Union. Booth Hall Children's Hospital, as it became known, was the largest children's hospital in the north of England with 430 beds. Booth Hall was also the first hospital in the North of England to install sunlight treatment for orthopaedic cases and opened a pioneering Hospital School. In 1927 the Hospital opened 'open air cubicles' where new admissions were placed for a period of quarantine, to reduce transfer of infection. The Hospital also opened a Convalescent Home in Min-y-don, called the Home for Tubercular Children. Booth Hall was recognised by the General Nursing Council as a Training School for Sick Children's Nurses. The management of the hospital was passed to Manchester Corporation in 1930 and it joined the NHS in 1948. In 1953, Booth Hall Hospital opened a separate unit for the treatment of children with burns and scalds, the first of its kind in the country. The Hospital was also a leader in the increase in visiting hours for parents of sick children. In 1991 Booth Hall Children's Hospital cam under the same management as Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and in 1995 they formed the Manchester Children's Hospital NHS Trust.

Note: the Medical Collection does not include any official records of this hospital. This includes any records relating to patient admissions, treatment and discharge. The Hospital's archives are held by Manchester Archives and Local Studies, Central Library, St. Peter's Square, Manchester (ref. M302).

The official history of the Hospital is Pamela Barnes, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital "Pendlebury" 1928-1999, (Churnett Valley Books 1999).