Selly Oak Hospital

Selly Oak Hospital
University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Main entrance to Selly Oak hospital on Raddlebarn Road
Geography
Location	Selly Oak, Birmingham, England
Coordinates	52°26′13.31″N 1°56′13.60″W / 52.4370306°N 1.9371111°W / 52.4370306; -1.9371111Coordinates: 52°26′13.31″N 1°56′13.60″W / 52.4370306°N 1.9371111°W / 52.4370306; -1.9371111
Organisation
Care system	NHS
Hospital type	Teaching
Affiliated university	University of Birmingham
Links
Website	www.uhb.nhs.uk
Lists	Hospitals in England

Selly Oak Hospital is situated in the Selly Oak area of Birmingham, England. Previously part of University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, the hospital closed in 2011.

The first buildings on the site of Selly Oak Hospital were those of the King’s Norton Union Workhouse. It was a place for the care of the poor and was one of many workhouses constructed throughout the country following the introduction of the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. This act replaced the earlier system of poor relief, dating from 1601.

The rising costs of poor relief had become a national problem and the new act sought to address this. Throughout the country, parishes were formed into larger unions with the power to raise money from rates on property to pay for the poor. King’s Norton Poor Law Union was formed from the parishes of Harborne, Edgbaston, King’s Norton, Northfield and Beoley. Each of these five parishes had individual workhouses.

These were replaced in 1872 by the new, much larger one at Selly Oak. It was built to accommodate 200 pauper inmates. Central supervision by the Poor Law Commissioners in London ensured that all workhouses were administered similarly by a set of rules and regulations. How humanely these were interpreted depended entirely upon each local board of Poor Law Guardians, who were local worthies. They were elected annually and gave their services voluntarily.

The aim of the Poor Law Amendment Act was to deny any form of relief except through admission to the workhouse. Generally it was assumed that the able-bodied poor could find work and if they did not then they should be forced to work within the confines of the workhouse. It was thought that if conditions in the workhouse were really bad then the poor would be deterred from seeking relief. However, by the late 18th century it became apparent that the majority of workhouse inmates were the most vulnerable people in society; the young, the old, the chronic sick and the mentally ill. Various Acts of Parliament ruled that separate provision should be made for children and the mentally ill. The sick poor were to be accommodated in separate infirmary blocks. These were often built adjacent to the workhouses and were the forerunners of many great hospitals of today.

At Selly Oak, a separate infirmary was built in 1897 at a cost of £52,000. It was the subject of much heated debate as the original estimate had been £18,000. It was a light, clean and practical building, and generally a source of much pride. The Guardians took great care and gathered information from other infirmaries to ensure that the final design, put out to a competition and won by Mr. Daniel Arkell, was up-to-date and modern.