Dr. John Curtin: Orthopaedic Hospital, Working Life, Healthcare

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Title

Dr. John Curtin: Orthopaedic Hospital, Working Life, Healthcare

Subject

Ireland; Cork; Gurranabraher; Healthcare; Occupational Lore:

Description

John, worked at St Mary's Hospital from 1972 to 2003 when he took early retirement. Initially he worked as an orthopaedic register but from 1978 he was consultant.

He remembers thinking St. Mary’s was a very progressive hospital but the layout wasn’t suitable for the time because it was built with a small budget in 1938. He says foundations were built for 9 separate blocks for different stages on infectious diseases. John tells us how in 1949 changes began that would result in the hospital becoming an orthopaedic hospital.

He says that the hospital brought in many polio sufferers after an outbreak in 1956. Similarly, John says, the hospital was very relevant when tuberculosis was more abundant.

John says that the staff were highly trained and recounts more of the history of the hospital circa 1955.
John recounts his busy weekly work routine between a number of hospitals including St. Mary’s, St. Finbars, St. Catherines Hospital (in Tralee), Edenburn (outside of Tralee). John recounts his daily routine which varied from day to day including: surgeries, ward rounds, clinics, discharges and paperwork.

He recalls in the mid 1980s there being a major financial crisis and how their budget was cut substantially. John tells us that a senior surgeon retired and wasn’t replaced for 8 years which made things very difficult.
John remembers Grove House when it was a home for nurses who would live there during their working week and go home for their days off. John recalls that the grounds were very well maintained by a full time gardener who would come to work in his horse and cart and would leave it to the rear of the administration block.

John remembers various orthopaedic clubs from England and Scotland who would come to visit, and similarly who they would visit over the years. He says these links were as a result of the training they would have to do in England to get fully qualified.

John recalls major cutbacks around 1993 and says that 300 patients were sent by helicopter to Belfast for surgery. He says that this would have been very expensive. John says that at that stage they were in the process of building a new operating theatre and that 1.6million was set aside to tackle waiting lists. He remembers that tenders were sent out and that the lowest tender came from the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.

Date

5 July 2017

Identifier

CFP_SR00632_curtin_2017

Coverage

Cork, Ireland, 1950s-2010s

Relation


Published Material:

MacConmara, Tomás for the Cork Folklore Project (2018) The Ministry of Healing, St Mary's Orthopaedic Hospital Cork: An Oral and Historical Record. Cork: Health Service Executive.

Source

Cork Folklore Project Audio Archive

Rights

Cork Folklore Project

Language

English

Type

Sound

Format

1 .wav File

Citation

Cork Folklore Project , “Dr. John Curtin: Orthopaedic Hospital, Working Life, Healthcare,” accessed March 28, 2024, https://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/document/162.