HOB/N

Medical Notes

1930-1945

From: 1930 To: 1945

Brief medical notes in volumes.

Received from Bedford Hospital May 1997

In 1997 c 200 bulky volumes of brief medical notes, nearly all dated 1930-45, without any indexes either of names or types of operations were received. These records were by no means as rich a source as, for example, the case books and files of Fairfield Hospital (LF), which contain detailed case histories and incidental genealogical details. The guidance of the Wellcome Trust was sought about appraisal, and they in turn referred us to the section of the National Archives website concerning the appraisal of medical records. The guidance notes were primarily aimed at hospital staff, and recommended the retention of all pre 1948 material, while at the same time accepting that records of patients, without corresponding finding aids, were of limited value. In July 2004 record office staff conferred about the appraisal of the records and it was decided to keep a sample of census years only, 1931 and 1941, chiefly for evidential purposes. There were one or two exceptions to this general rule. The entire run of maternity registers, 1930-45, was retained as they contain socially significant information about birth weights and previous pregnancies, and moreover, each volume has a names index. Two registers of service cases were retained (out of six) for 1941 and 1944, the second including the treatment of US personnel. The destruction of the material was undertaken during 29-30th July 2004. The overall volume of the material has been reduced by approximately 75%.

100 years embargo

sub-fonds