Poole Hospital
Poole Hospital (also known as Poole General Hospital) is an acute general hospital in Poole, Dorset, England. Built in 1907, it has expanded from a basic 14-bed facility into a 789-bed hospital. It is the trauma centre for east Dorset and provides specialist services such as cancer treatment for the entire county. It is managed by the University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust. The hospital was managed by Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust until the merger with The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on 1 October 2020. Location Poole Hospital is situated on Longfleet Road (part of the B3068 road), just below St Mary's Church, in the Longfleet area of Poole approximately from the town centre. The hospital's maternity unit lies opposite the main building in St. Mary's Road. The hospital has an adjacent multi-story car park and a total of 307 parking spaces. It is served by several bus routes operated by More Bus. History In 1897, Poole's hospital was established inside a mansion house in the town centre. Known as Poole Mansion, the house had been built in 1749 by John Bastard for a prosperous local merchant but had since been bought by local wealthy landowner Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne. The hospital was named Cornelia Hospital after its benefactress, Lady Cornelia Spencer-Churchill, daughter of the 7th Duke of Marlborough and wife of Ivor Guest. In 1907, the hospital relocated to Longfleet Road to offer patients the "purer air of Longfleet" and to provide space for future expansion. The new hospital, designed by the architect Walter Andrew, cost £3,369 to construct and contained 14 beds. During the First World War, two additional wards were built with 65 beds for the treatment of wounded servicemen. The hospital was damaged by German air-raids during the Second World War and several of the hospital buildings were rebuilt. In 1947, the Cornelia was renamed "Poole General Hospital" and following the establishment of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, it became an NHS hospital. During the 1950s, a new pathology department and an outpatients unit were created and in 1961; a maternity unit was built to the north of the main hospital building. By 1960, the main hospital buildings required modernisation and work began on a new hospital. Most of the hospital was demolished and replaced with a 500-bed facility with 1,150 staff which cost £5,000,000 to build and equip. The new hospital was formally opened in a ceremony attended by Queen Elizabeth II in July 1969. Further expansion has seen bed numbers increase to 789 and staff numbers increase to some 4,300 employees. It was announced in March 2022 that the accident and emergency department would close by late 2026 as part of the merger and consolidation of services across Poole, Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch hospitals agreed in Dorset's Clinical Services Review. Services Poole Hospital provides a range of district hospital care for the 270,000 residents of Poole, Purbeck and east Dorset, and is the major trauma centre