The History of St Vincent’s in Eastcote

In the year 1907 Archbishop Bourne (who later became Cardinal Bourne) set up a home in Clapham for crippled boys from the slums and workhouses of the poorest parts of London, the Diocese of Westminster. Without this home their chances of survival as hopeless incurables and social outcasts were slim. This home was run by the Daughters of Charity and so was founded the St Vincent’s Home for Crippled Boys.

An orthopaedic surgeon, Mr McCrae Aitken, and the eminent Sir Robert Jones, the first Honorary Surgeon (and nephew to Sir Hugh Owen Thomas, the father of orthopaedics), worked together with Sister Teresa Fraser (one of the Daughters of Charity, and the first Matron, who lived to be 103 and died in 1990) to ensure that the best possible orthopaedic treatment was provided for those boys who would benefit from it.

In May 1912, following a search to re-locate to a more rural setting, 40 boys transferred from Clapham to St Vincent’s Eastcote, to the original house, Ruislip Holt, which was built in 1893 and stood until 2004.

The land was cultivated, the orchard tended, and livestock reared. Wooden wards were built open on one side to the weather, allowing beds, particularly of TB patients, to be taken right outside for the fresh air treatment so highly recommended at that time.

St Vincent’s Home for Crippled Boys was registered with the Ministry of Education as a special school so that the boys’ education was not neglected.

St Vincent’s became the second orthopaedic hospital to be founded in the UK, the first being the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry, Shropshire.

The outbreak of the 1914-1918 war made any rapid development impossible, but by 1926 St Vincent’s was a fully equipped hospital. By 1923 St Vincent’s changed its name to St Vincent’s Orthopaedic Hospital. In 1925 a ward for 20 girls was opened and another in 1930. The number of beds increased from 40 to 122. During the 1939-45 war the first major change occurred, St Vincent’s became a centre for the treatment of war casualties and adults were admitted. Bed numbers during the war went up to 209.

The earliest figures available show that the average bed days for an inpatient was 424 days and this reduced in 1980 to 24 days, by 2000 the average length of stay after major surgery was seven days.

By this time it had a busy orthopaedic theatre, x-ray and out-patients department. It also provided physiotherapy. The wooden huts were gradually replaced with brick-built south-facing verandas.

Following the end of the war, the demand for more beds increased and the advent of the National Health Service in July 1948 also became a landmark for St Vincent’s. This was to be the beginning of contractual arrangements with the local Health Authorities. Initially 10 beds were retained as ‘private’ and the remainder of the beds were contracted for use to the NHS and this remained the position until its untimely closure by the government in 2000.

St Vincent’s School for Orthopaedic Nursing opened in 1974.  Its high reputation was reflected in the 100% pass rate,

The Health Authority paid for the maintenance costs of the NHS patients and the staff salaries, but St Vincent’s remained responsible for its own capital expenditure, raising the money for the new buildings and improvements through gifts, donations, legacies, and the League of Friends.

St Vincent’s has always been a centre for excellence and the provision of high quality care has been a major feature for everyone who has been a patient at St Vincent’s.

When in 2000 it was clear that government policy was forcing St Vincent’s to close, the Board of Trustees/Directors declared that they would do everything in their power to ensure that the tradition of St Vincent’s continued on the same site.  It was agreed that a Nursing Home would be built and that the reputation of St Vincent’s would be continued for a further 100 years.

The Trustees, Board of Directors are pleased to be in a position to say that the 60 bed Nursing Home development opened June 2006

The chapel, St Vincent’s Cripples Home, Clapham Park.

The boys took part in many work activities such as tailoring, printing and typing (above).

The first girls arrive in 1924.

St Vincent’s sisters in 1939.

St Vincent’s games – the late 1950s.

A more recent postcard from the 1980s.