Based on the author’s own experiences, Marguerite Hepton Memorial Hospital is the story of a sixteen-year-old girl who left school and entered a world of learning and strict discipline, often headed by girls only months older than herself! There she was using equipment and procedures now long forgotten for diseases such as tuberculosis, osteomyelitis, polio and congenital conditions, all of which are now eradicated or treatable. Her book will appeal to those connected with Thorpe Arch, the hospital, as well as a wider audience of anyone interested in real life nursing and how, off duty, these young people entertained themselves and their patients. Good care, support, and camaraderie in the midst of changing attitudes, and fears of society towards illness at a time when the world was recovering from World War Two and trying to embrace new technological ideas or discovering new drugs such as antibiotics and streptomycin. This book should appeal to many people whose lives have reached a reflective stage and anyone interested in history and nursing or educationalists looking for historical facts.
Cynthia Coultas was educated at Cockburn High School, Leeds, before beginning nurse training at Marguerite Hepton Memorial Hospital, Thorpe Arch, Yorkshire. She spent almost fifty years qualifying in orthopaedics, general nursing, midwifery and ophthalmic, before becoming qualified a nurse teacher. She is also a qualified Chiropodist. During this time she also graduated with a BA degree with the open university. Her first book Good Food, Rest and Plenty of Fresh Air was a success and all remunerations went to Martin House Hospice.