Saturday, March 4, 2006

100 years ago

The experiment made by the authorities of the York County Hospital with regard to open-air treatment had been attended with such satisfactory results that the balcony system was likely to be adopted at other hospitals. "We believe," said the Hospital spokesperson, "that the time is not far distant when the benefits of open-air treatment will be extended as a matter of principle to many, if not the majority, of acute as well as chronic diseases, and, perhaps, to everyday life."

50 years ago

It was expected that when commercial TV came to Yorkshire towards the end of 1956, York would receive a satisfactory signal for the city was well within the primary service area to be covered by the Yorkshire transmitting station at Emley Moor. The Yorkshire station would probably open in October. Granada TV Network Ltd would provide programmes during the week for the North, and Associated British Cinemas (Television, Ltd) those at the weekend. The transmission times of ABC TV would be: Saturdays, 4-6pm and 7-11pm and Sundays, 2-6pm and 7.30-10.45pm. The weekday programme contractors had not yet announced their transmission times.

25 years ago

An article contributed by the committee of the St Leonard's Hospice Fund in York explained their aims and set out the campaign to raise at least £500,000 towards a York Hospice. The aims of St Leonard's Hospice in York were to (a) Establish a centre where the medical nursing and spiritual needs of the terminally ill and their families were recognised as well as providing relief from pain in a quiet homely atmosphere of comfort and security; (b) Care for patients coming temporarily for pain control and at the same time providing for relatives a short, well-earned rest from anxiety and distress; (c) Develop a "domiciliary service" to help those who were able to or wished to be in their own homes. The National Society for Cancer Relief had agreed to fund the appointment of three domiciliary nurses - to be known as Macmillan Nurses - for the first three years; thereafter, it had already been agreed that the cost would become the responsibility of the new District Health Authority. Initially St Leonard's Hospice was aiming to provide for 16 people. All kinds of voluntary help would be required from the start. There were already in existence 14 separate fund-raising groups within the City and surrounding area whose efforts had resulted in the fund standing at £80,000. The estimated £500,000 might have seemed an ambitious sum to raise but when it was broken down into manageable sums, it took on a more realistic appearance: for example -- assuming 50,000 households within the area to be covered by the Hospice, the total sum could be raised by each household giving £10.

Updated: 10:40 Saturday, March 04, 2006