Hospital Story

Sevenoaks Hospital today retains its place at the heart of the community - a place it has held for more than 130 years.

The hospital specialises in rehabilitating patients recovering from illnesses or injury, providing outpatient care, daily phlebotomy (blood testing) clinics and treating those suffering from minor injuries including providing x-rays.

The adjoining neuro-rehabilitation unit at Darent House helps people recovering from head, spinal injuries or strokes.

Times have moved on since Sevenoaks was founded in 1870 as a voluntary hospital and opened as Holmesdale Cottage Hospital in 1873 with a total of eight beds.

With the creation of the National Health Service in 1948 the hospital went through a period of rapid expansion. It probably reached its heyday in the late 60s when after the construction of the new maternity unit, a total of about 136 in-patient beds were provided.

These comprised 80 beds in the main hospital – 30 in the Emily Jackson wing (now a care home) and 26 in the maternity unit, now the outpatients building. There were also three operating theatres, a special children’s ward and consultants in all the main areas of medicine.

A separate hospital at Sundridge with 50 beds also catered for elderly and mentally ill patients until it closed a few years ago.

Large district hospitals were very much favoured during the late 70s and 80s and this led to a period in the 80s when Sevenoaks Hospital almost closed. As it was, the maternity unit moved to Pembury and the operating theatres closed.

However, it was probably the introduction of the Community Care Act in 1990 and the idea that people are better treated closer to home that saved the hospital.

Since the early 90s the hospital has seen considerable development. Capital projects included building the hydrotherapy unit behind out-patients and converting Stanhope ward into a modular ward from the old Nightingale ward. A new Mothers’ and Children unit transferred from Pembury to Sevenoaks and a “proper” roof was put on out-patients.

The biggest new development however was the building of Darent House and Alexander Day Therapy Unit next to out-patients.

Darent House also houses the Acute Nero-Rehabilitation Unit for West Kent. It provides special facilities for people who have suffered strokes or head or spinal injuries (often in road accidents) and need long term rehabilitation. This unit now has eight beds and there is room for further expansion.

The number of clinics in out-patients has also grown considerably although the amount of beds at the main hospital was reduced from 47 during early 2006 for financial reasons to the 24 beds today. However there are now plans to restore the beds and upgrade facilities.

We will keep you updated about any further plans involving the hospital.

    
X-ray facilities are available at the hospital                      Patients benefit from the hydrotherapy pool