The war brought a deep decline in the number of people using the Workhouse. Nationwide the number of paupers needing the service dropped between 1914 and 1919 by nearly 100,000 to 183,000, however apart from the first year the Workhouse hospital remained very busy. The average number of patients was 172 over the registered number of beds. The increase had brought a large number of mental cases as a lot of the men had been classed unfit for war duty. With the hospital being fully occupied the workload was heavy. It had been difficult to maintain efficient nursing staff owing to the shortage of nurses many leaving to do military work as soon as they were qualified. During the last half of 1918 the Civil Hospital saw 310 fresh admissions with 73 deaths around the same time.
E ward would be reopened as a children's ward, this was the first children's ward of its kind. Until then children were often mixed with the adults or place by the fire in the children's nursery until their fever passed with little medical or nursing care. No sadder life was one of a child brought up in an institution designed for the supposedly work-shy adult. The 1889 census revealed that there were 54,000 children under the age of 16 years old within the workhouses in England and Wales. Most were orphans, abandoned or illegitimate and very few would leave until they were grown up. 4,000 of these children were classed as sick, handicapped or infirm.
In 1924 a probationary nurse was in court for stealing a handbag belonging to another nurse at the Workhouse hospital. The nurse, aged 20 lived on James Street and was accused of stealing a purse valued at 2s 6d and £2 15s in money. Detective Emsley was called to investigate on Monday the 24th December regarding the missing money. Under questioning the young nurse admitted to stealing the money. She had spent some of the money but £1 8s 4d was recovered. The girl's father said his daughter had all ways been trusted with money. He believed the theft was a result of the girl being affected by the recent thunderstorm. Her father was a member of the Board of Guardians she was bound over for 12 months and was fined a sum of £5.
© Neil and Janet Croft 2005