Stannington Sanatorium

Stannington Project Party

21/07/2015 by Stannington Sanatorium Project

Yesterday afternoon we welcomed many of the former patients and staff from Stannington Sanatorium to the Study Centre at Northumberland Archives where they were able to see the results of our latest project. Many of them had visited before as part of an oral history project last year but for some it was their first visit to see the records of Stannington Sanatorium. We were able to explain to them how the files had now been fully catalogued and organised in such a way that if any of them wished to see their own patient file this could be achieved with relative ease. They all also offered up their support to the idea of the patient files being used in the future to facilitate academic research.

With plenty of tea and cake around it was a good opportunity for former patients to meet and chat about their experiences of their time in Stannington and more importantly it was fantastic for us to finally be able to meet some of the people whose records we’ve spent so long working with and see the real people behind the fascinating story of Stannington. One former patient in particular, Betty Jewitt, also very kindly deposited some photographs she had from Stannington, which will now be held in the archive and available for the public to view.

The press were in attendance and Stannington featured on yesterday evening’s Look North and you can see a clip from this on the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-33604134 Stannington will also soon feature in the local newspapers, so look out there for more! There were a series of banners on display yesterday for everyone to read about the history of Stannington and we hope to see these tour local venues in the north east shortly and will let you all know where they’ll be going and when.

A big thank you to everyone that came along!

Stannington’s Reach

15/07/2015 by Stannington Sanatorium Project

Although based in Northumberland, Stannington Sanatorium wasn’t restricted to taking patients solely from the County of Northumberland. Looking through the patient files and the earlier minutes of the sanatorium we see that there were many different local authorities wishing to send children to Stannington. Over the years the authorities of Cumberland, Durham, Newcastle, Gateshead, Rochdale and West Yorkshire all sent patients there at some point, reflecting the uniqueness of Stannington, particularly in its early days, as a sanatorium that catered for children only. Local authorities would pay for so many beds, and often on the discharge of one child would immediately send another in their place.

Opening in 1907 Stannington began life at a time when changes were beginning to be seen in healthcare provision nationally. Only a few years later in 1911 the National Insurance Act came into force allowing the employed to benefit from medical care on a contributory basis, with particular note made to the treatment of tuberculosis. We see very few private patients in Stannington throughout its whole history and the majority of children would have been sent by their local authorities as part of the poor relief system, later called public assistance, up until the introduction of the NHS. Without the assistance of the local authorities many of these children would not have received any medical help at all, and their reliance on them is seen in 1916 when one girl suffering from tubercular patches on her face comes to the end of the time that has initially been paid for by Newcastle Corporation but medical staff consider it appropriate for her to continue to stay on at the sanatorium as her treatment remains incomplete. However, despite an application being made for an extension Newcastle Corporation refuse to pay and instead the matron makes pleas to the sanatorium’s management committee to allow the girl to stay free of charge until she is fully recovered on the basis that she is a good worker.

“She is a capital worker & is quite healthy in all other ways but her face. I was wondering gentlemen if you would give permission for this girl to stay on here for some time for free – she could work for us in return for the treatment.” Matron

Given the limited resources of both the sanatorium and the local authorities and considering how rife tuberculosis was during this period it seems quite fair to assume that the children that were eventually admitted to Stannington were the lucky ones, with many more not being able to go.

Differential Diagnosis: Perthes’ Disease

08/07/2015 by Stannington Sanatorium Project

A number of the patients admitted to Stannington were mistakenly given an initial diagnosis of tuberculosis or were found upon examination to be non-tuberculous and were instead allocated an alternative diagnosis. Perthes’ Disease was the most common differential diagnosis assigned to the bones and joints in Stannington, affecting the hip joint this condition was often mistaken as tuberculous-arthritis of the hip.

Perthes’ Disease, a condition that usually affects children between the ages of 4 and 10, is a condition where the blood supply to the femoral head is temporarily lost. This causes the bone at the epiphysis of the femur to soften and breakdown, known as necrosis, giving the femoral head a flattened appearance.

Patient 88/38, a 6 year old boy, is one example of a patient from Stannington with Perthes’ Disease, in this case affecting the left hip. Admitted to Stannington on 31^st October 1941, clinical notes read:

‘L. hip – some wasting thigh muscles. Some limitation flexion. Hip in good position.’

This is supported by the radiographs for the patient, figures 1 and 2 respective of date, and x-ray report:

‘13/11/1941 – Hip – flattened epiphysis has progressed since last x-ray 15/09/1941. Perthes’ Disease

20/11/1941 -Marked flattening of epiphysis L. hip. Some softening of neck. Definite Perthes’ Disease.’

By comparison, tuberculosis of the hip (see posting from 08/12/2014) results in the gradual destruction of the hip joint beginning with a reduction in the joint space between the femoral head and the acetabulum, leading to possible porosity and eburnation in the affected bones and the possibility of pathological dislocation, deformity and loss of use in the affected joint. Even after the disease has reached quiescence it is possible that the individual will suffer with ongoing osteoarthritis or ankyloses.

Figure 2, above, is of patient 88/38 with Perthes’ Disease, which can be compared with figure 3, patient 89/21, an individual with TB of the right hip. From the images, note the difference between the Perthes’ Disease where the femoral head becomes flattened and the epiphysis appears to pull away from the metaphysis but generally keeps its ‘ball and socket’ joint appearance with the pelvis compared to the loss of definition of a clear joint with the tuberculous hip, which shows loss of joint space and rarefaction.

For further radiographic images check out the Radiographs from Stannington Flickr Stream athttps://www.flickr.com/photos/99322319@N07/sets/72157648833066476/

Sources

The Perthes’ Association (2011). ‘What is Perthes’ Disease?’ http://www.perthes.org.uk/what-is-perthes-disease/

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