Report - The old Nuffield Hospital, Cambridge - September 2015

mockney reject · Sep 21, 2015

The History

The Nuffield hospital formally known as the Evelyn Nursing Home was founded in 1921, on land owned by Cambridge University’s Trinity College, at a cost of £27,000 by a philanthropic fine art dealer, Charles Morland Agnew, and named The Evelyn Nursing Home after his wife Evelyn had undergone an unpleasant stay in another Cambridge nursing home.

For many years it was the only Cambridge nursing home to possess an operating theatre, the Evelyn also opened its doors to medical, maternity and psychiatric patients and to residents. Following an ambitious program of modernisation and development instigated by Morland Agnew’s grandson Julian Agnew in 1974, the Evelyn decided to specialise in the care of acute medical and surgical cases – a program for which it was well equipped, thanks to its close ties with Addenbrooke’s Hospital and with the Cambridge medical fraternity.

In 1983 it was renamed the Evelyn Hospital as a reflection of its new status. Further developments in the 1980s and 1990s allowed it to establish itself as a busy acute private hospital with a reputation for high standards of medical and nursing care. However, the problems of running a standalone hospital in the changed environment of private medical care in the twenty-first century were considerable, and in order to ensure its continuing future, the hospital was sold to the Nuffield Hospitals Group in 2003.

Nuffield Health Cambridge Hospital was acquired by the Nuffield Health Hospitals Group in 2003

The hospital had 46 beds and four operating theatres for major and minor surgery. It employed 120 permanent staff and accommodated the practices of 200 consultants working across a broad range of disciplines. The hospital’s main specialties included the care and treatment of cancer, orthopedic surgery and ENT and general surgery.

In July this year the hospital finally closed its doors and the new Nuffield hospital next door took over the care of the Cambridge community.

The Explore

We originally found this place through a plumber friend on Facebook who had been working in the new hospital and had posted some pictures of the old one on his page. Luckily for us, he had also checked in there earlier in the day so bingo, we knew where it was. I was on the phone to @slayaaaa, @Urban Diaries and @Duckface and off we trotted.

We found the place pretty easily, the new hospital and associated flats are actually built around what’s left of the old place. All a little odd but understandable if they had to keep the old one open whilst building the new one.

We had a little bit of a false start after an overzealous car park attendant decided to overdo his job and tell us we couldn’t park in the new hospital car park. So we parked down the road and made our way in on foot.

Places like this always amaze me when it comes to access, I know if I were in charge of such a site I would actually check the all of the windows and doors are firmly shut. Although people not doing their job right makes it easier for explorers like us

We wandered around the main corridors to get an idea of what was what before snapping some pics. The power was still on so we went from place to place quickly flicking lights on to get some decent pics then flicking them back off when done.

Strangely the operating theatre lights where already on and the overhead lights where just amazing! Another strange thing in the hospital were the holes banged on the walls all over the place. It looked like metal thieves had been in and banged holes to check for cabling before coming back to take it.

The whole place was pretty clean and again it was nice to find and explore somewhere new. Well worth visiting as it’s being demolished in the next week or two

As always enjoy the pictures