Opening the curtains in the isolation block, St Helier Hospital, Sutton, Greater London
A nurse using a pulley in the corridor to draw the curtains in a ward of the isolation block at St Helier Hospital. The pulley meant the nurse did not have to enter the isolation ward to do this. Limiting the amount of people in and out of isolation wards was important in reducing the spread of infectious diseases. At the start of the 20th century, before the invention of antibiotics, there were several infectious diseases that affected many people’s daily lives. The three main ones that required treatment in isolation hospitals were Tuberculosis (TB), Scarlet Fever & Polio. The hospital was commissioned in 1934, as part of the St Helier council estate. Queen Mary laid the foundation stone for the new hospital in March 1938 and it received its first patients in February 1941.
