Welcome to the
History Channel. We have extensive pages showing the
history of Healthcare, Shipbuilding, Education,
Singer's Sewing Machine Factory, Housing and the
Clydebank Blitz.
To view some
fantastic Scottish history captured on film from the
BBC click here : BBC History (Broadband
Only)
Healthcare
in the new town
Good quality health care in mass populations was a huge
problem for many, many years. This problem was tackled
by the introduction of the Poor Law Amendment Act
(Scotland) of 1845, empowering Parochial Boards to
appoint medical officers to treat the sick and poor of
a parish or town.
Dr. Adam Gilmour was appointed as the very first
Parochial Medical Officer (PMO for short) of Clydebank
in 1866. His son Dr. John Gilmour followed in his
fathers footsteps in 1895, and was later joined by his
sister.
As the town expanded Dr. James Stevenson setup his
practice in Clydebank around 1878 - shortly after he
had qualified. He was at one point the only local
doctor to possess a Diploma in Public Health, and hence
became the official medical officer to the Burgh in
1897.
There were TWO main aims behind the Poor Law : It was
intended to provide basic medical relief for sick
paupers at minimum cost, and to prevent the spread of
infectious diseases.
Many areas of Clydebank and the surrounding parishes
did not have proper sanitation, and outbreaks of of
scarlet fever, smallpox and cholera were recorded.
Spurred on by possible fresh outbreaks of these fevers,
in 1893 the burgh sanitary committee drew up plans for
the building of a 16-bed infectious diseases (ID)
hospital at Blawarthill (just south of Knightswood).
BlawartHill Hospital was opened in 1897, and was a
joint venture between Clydebank Burgh and the Upper
District of Renfrew council. A 30-bed hospital,
BlawartHill developed and enviable reputation for the
quality of training given to its nurses, with three
being appointed Matrons of English fever hospitals by
1902.
New wards were opened in 1906, providing a further 34
beds. Six weeks later Clydebank boundaries were
extended to incorporate Kilbowie, Radnor Park and
Dalmuir - increasing the population from about 26,000
to around 36,000 - quite literally overnight.
After the Great War
The National Insurance Act of 1911 introduced a scheme
of contribution to insure the whole population against
sickness and ill-health. Provost John Taylor was
appointed Chairman of the Clydebank National Health
Insurance Committee in 1912.
While the National Insurance Act was a great step
forward from the Poor Law, the problems faced by
doctors and hospitals were still the same - infectious
diseases in particular was a still major problem (even
with the BlawartHill hospital opening in 1906).
Local hospitals were not capable of effectively
treating tuberculosis, which was prevalent across the
region. Attempts were made to treat patients, however
more often than not they were sent to hospitals further
afield, such as Peebles, Shotts, Ochil Hills, and even
Switzerland at one point in the 1940's!
As medical technology improved during the first half of
the 20th century, diseases became easier to get under
control, with scarlet fever virtually wiped out. That's
not to say that epidemics could be prevented, far from
it - Clydebank had over 40 deaths in one single week
during the Influenza epidemic in 1918.
Like many aspects of life in Clydebank, healthcare
services were devastated during the Blitz. To try and
ensure continued service, first aid posts were setup
around the town (some of you may have had relatives who
manned these posts, or remember the folk who worked in
them). While the doctors took it in turns to ensure
that almost total 24 hour cover was provided to those
who needed it, many of their own houses and practices
were destroyed in the bombing, as well as some
essential chemists shops.