Beccles Hospital marks its 100th anniversary

For the last century Beccles War Memorial Hospital has provided care and support to the local community and now a special celebration service is being held to mark its 100th anniversary.

The hospital opened in 1924 having cost £12,000 to build. The town’s residents had donated £7,000 following an appeal and this was boosted by a gift from Alexander Elliott of a stretch of land between St Mary's Road and Priory Road, which is still the site of the hospital today.

On the exact anniversary of the opening ceremony - Saturday 24^th February – a commemoration event will be held in the hospital reception and foyer area. Mr Elliott's great grandchildren have been invited as special guests, along with the town’s mayor Cllr Christine Wheeler. The hospital’s League of Friends will also be attending as well as representatives from East Coast Community Healthcare (ECCH), which runs the hospital, and Beccles Medical Centre, which shares the site.

A display of historical photographs, books and artefacts will inform visitors of the role the hospital has had in the community and how it has adapted and changed over the years. When the hospital was opened by Major-General Sir Anthony Bowlby, commanding officer of the 54th East Anglian Division, it had 24 beds and for many years boasted its own operating theatre.

In 2017 £1.65 million was spent transforming it into an intermediate care unit with in-patient facilities for those requiring medical care but not needing acute support in a general hospital. A new day room was created at the same time, thanks to the League of Friends.

Since 2019 ECCH has provided a specialist palliative care service on Minsmere Ward in partnership with St Elizabeth Hospice, and in 2022 the ward replaced traditional paper patient records with a pioneering digital monitoring system linked directly to patients’ GPs, ensuring that the ward is at the forefront of modern medical care.

The centenary display will be open to the public from 3pm to 5pm on Saturday 24^th February and again from 10am to 5pm on Sunday 25^th February. Signed copies of the book “Beccles and its Hospital – a Century of Caring”, which was written by former nurses Pam Hardman and Maureen Saunders, will be auctioned with proceeds going to the League of Friends.