View Day
. V iew Day is a time to acknowledge achievement, reflect on the past and look to the future. First held in 1551 and never cancelled, despite two world wars, it has a long and distinguished history. The origins of View Day reach back to the Easter services held in Spitalfields since the Middle Ages. These Spital services were designed to attract attention to the London hospitals. Patients were walked through the streets to Spitalfields so that the public might see them, feel compassion, and make donations towards their care. The Square, View Day 1947.
B y 1551 the custom of showing patients to the public was discontinued, with the Governors, physicians and surgeons taking their place, and so View Day as we know it was born. Many wellknown people attended the Spital services, although they were not always impressed: in 1669 Samuel Pepys noted in his diary I travelled by hackney coach to the Spittle [sic] and heard a dull sermon. The Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great. View Day Procession, c.1900.
T he viewing of patients was later re-introduced. It is probably due to concerns about their health that View Day now takes place in May, rather than at Easter. In 1824 the doctors declared it extremely desirable that View Day be held at a less inclement season. The second Wednesday in May was selected and View Day has been held on that day ever since. Treasurer s visit to Fleet Street Ward, View Day 1943. The patient is a Cabin Boy, whose ship was sunk by an enemy submarine during World War Two. Two nurses in Theatre A, Casualty/Lucas Block, 1904 Sister and Three Nurses bathing newborn babies, c.1929-1934
T he tradition of viewing or inspecting the hospital property also has a long history. With the dissolution of the monasteries between 1526 and 1541, the future of St Bartholomew s Hospital was left in doubt due to its strong ties with the Church. In 1546/7 Henry VIII refounded the hospital, granting it to the City of London, and thus ensuring its future. Portrait of Henry VIII, anon (after Holbein) c. 1700. Nurses on Fleet Street Ward with George Aylwen, Treasurer, View Day 1943.
T he first Governors were appointed, and they soon discovered that much of the hospital s property was in greate decaye and some rotten ruynous. So bad was the situation that the Governors declared that the hospital was not equipped to care for its one hundred patients but merely to treat three or foure harlottes. It was clear that a change was necessary. From 1551 the Governors began an annual programme of inspection of the hospital s lands and properties. The hospital held extensive properties in London, the suburbs and as far afield as Hertfordshire and Essex, and the inspection was a long and tiring task which sometimes took two days. Plan of Courtyard and Tenements on the north side of Chick Lane. Formal group of Sisters and Matron by the Fountain, c.1902-8. Sister with male patient, Sandhurst Ward c.1929.
T hese original sixteenth-century View Day inspections were primarily concerned with arranging repairs and new leases for countryside properties, but over the years a more social element developed and in 1569 the first ever View Day Dinner was held. Later on, as recompense for the work of inspection, the Governors were offered 30 gallons of clarrett, often in a local inn. During the nineteenth century, the View Day Dinner was held in the Great Hall, where it continued to be a lengthy, banquet-style affair. T he eighteenth-century rebuilding of St Bartholomew s saw the focus of View Day shift from the inspection of far-away properties to the hospital alone. The Governors invited others to join their viewing, and also to see the patients. The revival of the old Spital view of patients is mirrored in William Hogarth s painting of the Pool of Bethesda on the Grand Staircase leading up to the Great Hall it is said that he has pictured patients from the hospital wards. View Day ceremony in Bowlby Ward, c.1940. Hogarth Staircase, The North Wing St Bartholomew s Hospital.
A s the novelty of the new Gibbs buildings waned, View Day increasingly became an occasion to view the hospital s patients and, particularly, the wards. Prizes were awarded to the most attractive wards, and nurses rose early to collect flowers from Covent Garden. Inspection was extremely formal, with the Beadle leading the Governors, medical staff and Matron to the ward, where he would find waiting the Sister and nurses, standing in order of seniority. The Steward enquired of the patients if they had any cause for complaint. Tradition records that there rarely was! Nurse with child patient, Sitwell Ward c.1929. Harmsworth Ward at tea-time, View Day 1955.
F rom the 1970s, a church service again became part of proceedings, reflecting the origins of the day in the Spital service. Today, this takes place in the historic Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great, which was founded alongside the hospital in 1123. It is also the resting place of Rahere, the founder of the hospital. Current and former staff often attended the service, and during the 1980s and 1990s, stalls selling fundraising items and refreshments were set up in the hospital square. Exhibitions on the hospital s history were also mounted, giving the day a festive atmosphere. Tomb of Rahere, founder of St Bartholomew s Hospital. Interior of the Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great.
I n the modern period, the Lord Mayor of London has taken the Governors former role, and the procession to the church service is led by the Beadle, who today is one of the portering supervisors. Although viewing patients and wards is no longer appropriate, the essential message of View Day has proved remarkably enduring over its long history. A hospital is still accountable to the community it serves and all the hospitals that make up Barts Health NHS Trust (St Bartholomew s, Mile End, Newham, The Royal London, and Whipps Cross) build on this ethos today.
Sir David Wootton attending View Day as the Lord Mayor of London, 2012. A s it has done for so many years, View Day provides the opportunity for the Trust alongside Barts Charity and its supporters to join together to reflect on the amazing history of St Bartholomew s and all the hospitals of Barts Health NHS Trust. It s also a time to reflect on achievements of the past year, the extraordinary work that takes place each day, and what the future holds.
The hospitals were founded by the charitable donations from businessmen and philanthropists to treat the sick and vulnerable. Today, Barts Charity continues to support the remarkable work of all hospitals of Barts Health NHS Trust by funding innovative healthcare, medical research and community projects. Working closely with the Trust, the charity s main objective is to improve the lives of patients in East London, the City and beyond. View Day is the time where Barts Charity and the Trust can present to their community the achievements of the past year and the plans for the future. Many thanks to St Bartholomew s Hospital Archives for the photographs and information on the history of View Day.
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