Isolation Hospital (General)

by Maurice Teague , Westbury on Severn, Sunday, August 27, 2006, 01:50 (6664 days ago) @ Barbara Lloyd

Hello Barbara,When I was a child there were at least 2 Isolation Hospitals in the FOD,1 at The Wilderness on Plump Hill above Mitcheldean and another near Greenbottom,close to Littledean.There may have been more in the Forest which I am not aware of.A further isolation hospital was also at Over between Highnam and Gloucester.I spent 3months in the Wilderness from November 1939 toFebruary 1940 with Diptheria and Scarlet Fever,a cousin of mine died there of the same illness.There was an epidemic at that time.
The practice of sending patients out of the area still exists as Gloucester Royal does not cover all treatments.Patients are sent to Bristol Royal for heart operations [also Oxford] and Oncology,head injuries are often referred to Bristol Frenchay and burns were dealt with at St Lawrence Hospital Chepstow.One can only assume that the practice is of long standing although how they would have transported people in the earlier times would have been somewhat difficult.
Both the Wilderness and Greenbottom hospitals have now closed,the Wilderness is an educational centre and Greenbottom which was a wooden structure has been demolished and is now the site of a bungalow.