The 1970s at Nuffield Hospitals
The Seventies saw the biggest period of growth for Nuffield Nursing Homes Trust (NNHT) with 14 new hospitals being established. Demand for private healthcare continued to grow, primarily as a result of increasing NHS waiting lists and a shortage of private hospital beds in many areas. As in the Sixties, many of the hospitals were established after lengthy local fundraising campaigns to part fund the developments and by the end of the decade patient income had increased to £14.5 million (from £1.7million at the end of the Sixties).
New Hospital Additions during the 1970s included:
- Brentwood
- Cheltenham
- Grosvenor (Chester)
- Glasgow
- Huddersfield
- Leicester
- Newcastle
- North London (Enfield)
- North Staffordshire
- Plymouth
- Somerset (Taunton)
- Wolverhampton
- Wessex (Hampshire)
- Wye Valley (Hereford).
Healthcare Developments in the 1970s
Thanks to the invention of fibre optics, flexible endoscopes - a long, thin, steerable tube with a camera and light on the end - started to be developed during the 1970s. They allow doctors to examine the twist and turns of the digestive system, such as the stomach, duodenum and colon. Many Nuffield hospitals are now equipped with specialist endoscopy suites.
“Purpose built hospitals pave the way to the future!”
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