Wednesday, 21 June, is National Healthcare Estates and Facilities (E&F) Day! It’s the perfect occasion for us to celebrate the work of our E&F professionals. Our unique unsung heroes in Estates and Facilities work tirelessly to keep all of our services running smoothly, 24/7, 365 days a year – every colleague plays a vital role – and we would like to take this opportunity to shine a spotlight on our amazing E&F colleagues and celebrate all they do.
Our Clinical Engineering team did a fabulous job at the main entrance, promoting their services and informing everyone about what they did - they certainly attracted a lot of attention!
Our partners Serco and Medirest set up tables in the restaurant to promote their services and to talk to anyone interested in the career opportunities available within these two international companies.
The Mayor of Dartford, Councillor Rosanna Currans, made a special visit to meet the E&F team, and she was certainly impressed with what our E&F team is doing at Darent Valley Hospital. She commented on how essential the E&F staff are to the smooth running of the Trust as well as the varied apprenticeship opportunities available for local people within the profession. Then to top this off, Liz Luxton from the National NHS Estates team popped in to meet our E&F team. She, too, was highly impressed with the sheer enthusiasm of the team
After the excitement of the two special visitors, the Estates, Facilities, Capital Planning and Clinical Engineering team led by Leigh Wiltshire went on a history walk around Darenth Country Park. The team learnt about the original Darenth Park Hospital and some of the legacy that remains in the country park, finishing off with a picnic in the park.
Our Estates and Facilities teams don’t always get the attention or recognition they deserve, but we wanted them to know just how valued and appreciated they all are and to take this opportunity to say thank you for everything you do.
History Walk Narrative by Leigh Wiltshire
The industrial side of the institution was, in 1930, turning out goods to the value of £70,000 per year. The principle purpose of the section was to keep the patients usefully occupied, happy and contented, and give them an interest in their tasks. The industries carried out for males were: baking, book binding, bricklaying, carpentry, domestic work, engineering, farming, mat making, mattress making, painting, plumbing, printing, shoe making, tailoring, tinsmith work, toymaking; for females: domestic work, laundry work, needlework, rug making, sock and jersey knitting.
In 1930 the running of the asylum changed from the MAB to the London County Council (LCC) and in 1939 the name of the asylum changed to Darenth Park. It housed (until the 1950’s) entirely adult patient’s. In the 1950’s, a review of the life of patients at Darenth Park was made in The Lancet. The aim of the hospital was to return the patient, after training, to the outside world, if possible. There were about 1,800 adults there with mental defects, 1,100 men and 800 women. The large proportions of admissions were ‘high-grade’ and trainable. Of the 1,800 patients, 300 were working outside the hospital on a weekly licence and 192 on a daily licence.
It was found that the patients made keen workers. Some worked in the gardens and on the farm. Others helped with the maintenance as bricklayers, carpenters and decorators. The carpentry shop turned out benches and stools. The tinsmiths, kettles, coalscuttles and other household articles. There was a mattress making shop, upholsterers, mat making, brush making, and basketwork. The tailors’ shop made and repaired the patients’ clothes and the women made all their own dresses. The shoemakers made six pairs of orthopaedic boots needed for patients and repaired over 8000 pairs of shoes.
The Hospital Cemeteries
The hospital had it own cemeteries. The old cemetery (now called Southern Rest) was 200ft x 250 ft and was consecrated by the Right Reverend Dr Claughter, late Bishop of Colombo and Archdeacon of London, in December 1878.
The water was delivered to a 250,000 gallon concrete reservoir at the rate of 8,000 gallons per hour. The reservoir was adjacent to the boiler house. Chlorine was added to the water and the water then went to the main water storage tank and to 116 overhead supplementary tanks in the roof voids of the wards and buildings. The pumps were lowered and brought to the surface by means of a winch. In event of both pumps breaking down, there was an auxiliary supply from the water board, which discharged straight into the reservoir. This was only used in an extreme emergency. In 1971, the hospital used 60,000,000 gallons of water annually. It took 6 months for rains to penetrate the soil and chalk to reach the water table.
The gas works occupied 3 acres of land in the extreme south-west corner. The plant consisted of 28 retorts in four series, two boilers of the Cornish type, four gas holders with a total storage capacity of 120,000 cubic feet of gas, purifying boxes, various pumps and machinery for making sulphate of ammonia. The maximum productive capacity of the plant was 230,000 cubic feet of gas per day. This was ample, as the consumption was not known to exceed 150,000 cubic feet. The yearly carbonisation accounts for aver 2,000 tons of the best coal, yielding over 25 million cubic feet of gas, a result that compared favourably with large gas works for public supply. Production costs were also well below average. The gas works closed in 1927.
Darenth hospital War Memorial was unveiled on 16 December 1927 by general fell the memorial is dedicated to the hospital staff who were killed in both wars
- John Jeffrey Gladwell worked in the mess at the Darenth industrial colony prior to enlisting in the Army. Early in the war he became a Lance Cpl 4794 in the sixth Battalion Queens own Royal West Kent Regiment and died of his wounds on 12 April 1917. He was 36 years of age.
- JW ball died of his wounds on 18 January 1917
- Frank Spensley Royal Army medical he died of pneumonia on 23 October 1918. Frank was 39 years
- Albert Feltman Guardsman. He was killed in action on 17 September 1916. Albert was 37 years old
- SG Crowhurst, he was in the first Battalion Queens owns Royal West Kent Regiment. He sadly died of his wounds which he received in action on the Western front on May 10, 1917,
- William Richard Crowhurst, he was killed on 28 July 1917, William was 23 years old
- Jack Herrington was a Lance Cpl in the first, battalion Royal Irish Regiment. He was killed in action on 2 June 1915 Jack was 26 years old
The hospital finally closed in 1988. The Hospital Management HQ closed in 1994 and the buildings demolished in 1995.