FUNDAMENTAL DEVELOPMENTS IN HEALTH

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The North West has many landmarks in the development of Health Care and its associated procedures and equipment. Among these Liverpool has every right to hold her head high. Liverpool has always had many achievements to be proud of. In the field of health and welfare it has plenty of important achievements in which we can truly say the city led the way. Unfortunately in the 19th and early 20th centuries Liverpool also led the way in terms of having the worst conditions in housing, health and sanitation. The rise in population was much faster than the increase in housing, water supplies, sanitation and health care. Records give us a clear indication of the impact of putting so many people in such cramped conditions without adequate facilities. Disease was common and deadly, and few diseases were feared as much as the cholera outbreaks which swept through British cities in the 1830's and 1840's and which broke out again from time to time.

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Liverpool did not suffer all of these terrible problems because the city did not care. The city was overwhelmed by these problems because of the speed of the growth of the city. From quite an early stage Liverpool tried to take action to improve health in the city. Archives tell the stories of many men and women who dedicated themselves to improving the health and living conditions of Liverpool’s poor. Dr Duncan was born in Seel Street in 1805, the son of a Liverpool merchant. After his training he worked in Upper Parliament Street and Vauxhall. Duncan was much more than a doctor. He was aware that most health problems came from poor housing and sanitation. He contributed to investigations by Parliament into health issues. One of his most important contributions was his writing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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In his 1843 pamphlet ‘The Physical Causes of the High Mortality Rate in Liverpool’, Duncan gave evidence on the conditions under which by far the greater part of the population of the borough lived. Typically 25% of his patients were living in cellar dwellings with between 15 and 30 people in an airless room.

The work of Duncan and other campaigners helped the civil servant Edwin Chadwick to promote the Health of Towns Association in December 1844. Duncan established a Liverpool branch of the Association in April 1845. These advances led to the passing of the Liverpool Sanitary Act in 1846. This created Duncan’s future post as Medical Officer of Health, the first such appointment by any city in the country. Duncan worked closely with another new man, James Newlands, the country's first Borough Engineer. Duncan remained Chief Medical Officer for the next 17 years. Some of the earliest hospitals were run as charities and were known as Voluntary Hospitals. Hospitals were also set up by Poor Law authorities. In the 20th century public health authorities began to run hospitals. Three different kinds of hospitals existed in the past.
 

In July 1937, The Liverpool United Hospital’s Act (1 Edw. 8 & 1 Geo. 6, Ch. CXXVII) received royal assent. The act amalgamated the four voluntary hospitals of Liverpool (The Royal Infirmary, The David Lewis Northern, The Royal Southern and The Stanley Hospital) into a single body. In 1948 the governing body – The United Liverpool Hospitals – was established.