Welcome to Haslar the Longbridge of the hospital world! This place is easily both the biggest and most intact closed hospital ive ever seen. Myself and Rooks were having a bit of a 'dream team' reunion day and headed down to Portsmouth on other buisness but ive had my eye on this for a couple of months and wanted to do a quick recce. Wasnt expecting to get close with the hospital sandwiched between a live military base and a prison, the razorwire fence is fearsome and the guards supposedly MGS but a comedy oppertunity opened up and we gathered up our balls and took it.
The site is absolutely VAST we had no chance of getting around it all, we started in the modern block in the centre where you can find all kinds of X-ray, CAT and MRI machines all still switched on! Then up passed talking lifts, flushing urinals and automatic doors to the operating theatres where the air con was still buzzing away heating them to a sauna like tempreture. The across into the massive double layer, 3 storey, C shaped, older block which had wards and all sorts of odds and sods. Then down into the tunnels and eventualy out via an old laundry and path lab. We checked BOTH mortuarys, the decompression chamber building and the tower but they were all unfortunatly tight as! The rest of the other outer buildings didnt even get a look in, theres a church, swimming pool (i think) canteen, boiler house, just loads.
The site is absolutely VAST we had no chance of getting around it all, we started in the modern block in the centre where you can find all kinds of X-ray, CAT and MRI machines all still switched on! Then up passed talking lifts, flushing urinals and automatic doors to the operating theatres where the air con was still buzzing away heating them to a sauna like tempreture. The across into the massive double layer, 3 storey, C shaped, older block which had wards and all sorts of odds and sods. Then down into the tunnels and eventualy out via an old laundry and path lab. We checked BOTH mortuarys, the decompression chamber building and the tower but they were all unfortunatly tight as! The rest of the other outer buildings didnt even get a look in, theres a church, swimming pool (i think) canteen, boiler house, just loads.
wikipedia said:The Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire, England is one of several hospitals serving the Portsmouth Urban Area. The Royal Hospital Haslar officially closed as the last military hospital in the UK in 2007, and is now used by the Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust. It currently serves both military and civilian NHS patients.
In 2009, the 200 military personnel remaining at Haslar will move to the new Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit (MDHU) at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham, Portsmouth, which was opened in 2005.
Haslar has a number of specialist facilities including a decompression chamber and a zymotic isolation ward.
wikipedia said:The Royal Hospital Haslar began as a Royal Navy hospital in 1753. It has a long and distinguished history in the medical care of service personnel in peacetime and in war.
The building was designed by Theodore Jacobsen and built between 1746-61.
Haslar was the biggest hospital and the largest brick building in England when it was built.
Tröhler U. James Lind at Haslar Hospital 1758-1774 was a large part of discovering a cure for scurvy here.
In 1902 the hospital became known as the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar (abbreviated to RNH Haslar).
In the 1940s, RNH Haslar set up the country's first blood bank to treat wounded soldiers from the Second World War.
In 1966 the remit of the hospital expanded to serve all three services - the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.
In 1996 the hospital again became known as the Royal Hospital Haslar.
In 2001 the provision of acute healthcare within Royal Hospital Haslar was transferred from the Defence Secondary Care Agency to the NHS Trust. The Royal Hospital was the last MOD-owned acute hospital in the UK. The change from military control to the NHS, and the complete closure of the hospital have been the subject of considerable local controversy.