Musgrove Park Hospital is a large
NHSThe National Health Service is the name commonly used to refer to the publicly-funded health care services in Great Britain. In England the name National Health Service is used without further qualification whereas the services in Scotland and Wales are known as NHS Scotland and NHS Wales...
hospital located in
TauntonTaunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
,
SomersetSomerset is a county in South West England. The county town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county. The ceremonial county of Somerset borders the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west...
. Originally a US Army General Hospital during the Second World War, it became an NHS hospital in 1949.
Musgrove Park is the major hospital in Somerset, which serves Taunton and its surrounding areas. It is often known by the abbreviation MPH by the local
South Western Ambulance ServiceThe South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust is the authority responsible for providing NHS ambulance services in the English counties of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset...
. It serves a population of 340,000 - primarily living in the area served by
NHSThe National Health Service is the name commonly used to refer to the publicly-funded health care services in Great Britain. In England the name National Health Service is used without further qualification whereas the services in Scotland and Wales are known as NHS Scotland and NHS Wales...
South West.
Musgrove Park Hospital is a large
NHSThe National Health Service is the name commonly used to refer to the publicly-funded health care services in Great Britain. In England the name National Health Service is used without further qualification whereas the services in Scotland and Wales are known as NHS Scotland and NHS Wales...
hospital located in
TauntonTaunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
,
SomersetSomerset is a county in South West England. The county town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county. The ceremonial county of Somerset borders the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west...
. Originally a US Army General Hospital during the Second World War, it became an NHS hospital in 1949.
About the hospital
Musgrove Park is the major hospital in Somerset, which serves Taunton and its surrounding areas. It is often known by the abbreviation MPH by the local
South Western Ambulance ServiceThe South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust is the authority responsible for providing NHS ambulance services in the English counties of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset...
. It serves a population of 340,000 - primarily living in the area served by
NHSThe National Health Service is the name commonly used to refer to the publicly-funded health care services in Great Britain. In England the name National Health Service is used without further qualification whereas the services in Scotland and Wales are known as NHS Scotland and NHS Wales...
South West. Each year 34,000 patients are admitted as emergencies; 10,000 patients are admitted for elective surgery; 28,000 are seen for day case surgery; 238,000 outpatient appointments are held; 49,000 attend Accident and Emergency, 3,000 babies are born in the Maternity Department and 170,000 diagnostics tests are carried out.
The hospital has an annual budget of £180 million; over 700 beds as well as 15 operating theatres. Musgrove Park is also home to an Intensive Care and High Dependency Unit, a Medical Admissions Unit, a fully equipped Diagnostic Imaging department and a specialised Children’s Department including a Paediatric High Dependency Bay. The Trust also provides Neonatal Intensive Care for all of Somerset. The Trust employs about 4,145 staff.
The Trust’s mission statement is:
"To provide a high level of service and quality previously unknown in this country"
Musgrove Park has a
hospital radioHospital radio is a form of audio broadcasting produced specifically for the in-patients of hospitals. It is primarily found in the United Kingdom.-History:...
station called Apple AM, presented by volunteers. The station is broadcast to all patients and staff and can be listened externally on 1431 kHz medium wave.
Following an operation on his foot, Somerset cricketer
Ian BothamSir Ian Terence Botham, OBE is a former England Test cricketer and Test team captain, and current cricket commentator...
mistakenly walked into a children's ward at Musgrove Park. He gives this as his inspiration for raising millions of pounds for leukaemia charities.
History
The 67th General Hospital was authorised on 3 March 1941, and activated 1 September 1942 as an American Army Hospital and occupied by the U.S. Army Medical Corps.
After the war, it continued in use as a Ministry of Pensions Hospital and only became a General Hospital within the
National Health ServiceThe National Health Service is the name commonly used to refer to the publicly-funded health care services in Great Britain. In England the name National Health Service is used without further qualification whereas the services in Scotland and Wales are known as NHS Scotland and NHS Wales...
in 1951. An
Oregon PineDouglas-fir is the English name applied in common to evergreen coniferous trees of the genus Pseudotsuga in the family Pinaceae. There are five species, two in western North America, one in Mexico, and two in eastern Asia...
tree was planted in front of the Old Building by the Americans and can still be seen standing proudly today.
The first major development of the hospital was the Queens Building which opened in 1987. This houses Accident and Emergency, Orthopedics, Endoscopy and Opthalmics as well as Therapy Services. The Duchess Building opened in 1995 to house Medical and Care of the Elderly, Outpatients, Oral Surgery and Orthodontics, Dermatology, Diagnostic Imaging, Pharmacy, and Paramedical Support. An extension to the Post Medical Centre was opened in 2005. Work on a Cancer Centre started in 2007.
Many events took place over the years that affected staff and patients in unusual ways. Two of these took place in 1978, which was eventful for many and gained considerable publicity – the great snow of February 1978 and the
Taunton train fireThe Taunton sleeping car fire occurred in a sleeping car train at Taunton, England in the early hours of 6 July 1978. It killed 12 people and had far-reaching effects for British Rail.- Background :...
of July 1978. The helicopter became a familiar sight during the snow siege – the first landed at very short notice, bringing a patient with a head injury – an unusual group of staff carried him from the helicopter to the hospital through deep snowdrifts. After a few days, these flights became routine, bringing in mothers in labour and taking out supplies to smaller hospitals.
Musgrove Park has had two of many memorable Royal visits. These were by
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen MotherElizabeth Bowes-Lyon was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions from 1936 until 1952 as the wife of King George VI. After her husband's death, she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
in 1959; and by
H.R.H. Princess AnneAnne, Princess Royal is the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
in 1970, when she opened the Intensive Therapy Unit.
In October 2006, a new multi-storey car park was opened, provided under a 25 year
Public-private partnershipPublic-private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...
(PPP). The Cedars car park has 736 spaces and is operated by Dutch company Q-Park. This was built together with the addition of the new Cardiac Extension to the hospital, which provides primary angioplasty.
On 1 December 2007, Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust became a
Foundation TrustAn NHS foundation trust is an NHS trust that is part of the National Health Service in England and has gained a degree of independence from the Department of Health and local NHS strategic health authority.-Function:...
making Musgrove a Foundation Trust hospital. As a Foundation Trust, the hospital will now have greater freedoms over its finances and the 5200 people who have registered as members will have a crucial role to play in the future direction of the hospital.
Future Plans
The Trust has exciting plans to improve and transform the hospital. These include the current development of the new Cardiology Extension, as well as the replacement of part of the World War II Old Building with a state-of-the-art Surgical Centre within the next few years. The new Beacon Cancer Centre opened in May 2009, ending the need for patients to travel to the Bristol Oncology Centre for radiotherapy treatment.
A new helipad is also being considered, to be built directly outside the A&E department reducing aircraft transfer times.
Television
The A&E department of Musgrove is the subject of a TV fly-on-the-wall series known as "Emergency: Medics". Three series have previously been shown on ITV West and ITV Westcountry. Former episodes of “Emergency: Medics” can be seen on ITV 1 or on the
Discovery Home & Health ChannelHome & Health is a television channel. It was launched as part of the Discovery Channels bouquet of channels, as Discovery Health, following a similar format to the American channel of the same name....
.
External links