In this section, you will find some transcriptions of documents relating to the Army Nursing Service prior to the formation of Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service in 1902.  Information about the service during this early period is difficult to find, and it is hoped that these accounts will prove interesting and informative.  The source of each is clearly stated at the top of each page, and should be cited as necessary if this information is used elsewhere.





I've also added a list of all British military hospitals that were in existence in 1899. These were situated in the United Kingdom, India, Burma, Egypt, and some places that seem surprising nowadays, including the Caribbean, Canada and St. Helena.  There are 360 of them, and even that large number doesn't include hospitals in South Africa.  Although the list only gives the location of the hospitals and number of beds in each unit, the original document does supply other information referring to average bed occupancy, the type of cases taken, and the number of Royal Army Medical Corps and Army Nursing Service staff employed. If you would like this extra information for any individual hospital, please let me know. To try and bring these medical units to life, many of which were small barracks hospitals, I've also added a selection of reports on UK military hospitals from the time of the general reorganisation of the medical services in 1902-3.




     Following the formation of Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service as successor to the Army Nursing Service in 1902, there was a rapid expansion of the nursing establishment, and a desire to give nursing sisters more authority within the hospitals, more administrative powers, and a responsibility for the direction and training of orderlies of the Royal Army Medical Corps. To that end, inspections of all military hospitals were carried out in the autumn of 1902 by the Surgeon-General or his representatives, and in the spring of 1903 by the Matron-in-Chief, to report on how suitable the arrangements were, and to put forward any improvements thought necessary. The following reports are some of the few surviving official insights into the workings of military hospitals during the period.  Most are divided into two sections, one a report by the Surgeon-General or his representative, and the second a report by the Matron-in-Chief or Principal Matron into the nursing conditions during this time of upheaval and reorganisation.
Please note:  The original formatting of these reports cannot be reproduced correctly on these pages, and some comments on the nursing reports, made later by the medical officer, have been omitted.  Please refer to the originals if complete accuracy is needed for research purposes.

On a separate page are some reports for a selection of smaller hospitals throughout the UK which, with the exception of Shorncliffe, did not employ nurses but were staffed solely by the Royal Army Medical Corps. On the whole the reports are damning, and the hospitals only fit for demolition, but they make good reading and maybe we should give thanks for improvements that have taken place over the last 100 years!  Reports for the following military hospitals can be found on this link:

Military Hospital Reports

Third Station Hospital, Aldershot
Ashton-under Lyne
Birmingham
Brighton
Burnley
Bury
Chester
Coventry
Devizes
Exeter
Golden Hill, Isle of Wight
Lancaster
Liverpool
Manchester
Newhaven
Parkhurst
Preston
Shorncliffe
Shrewsbury