On or off duty.

Wooden noticeboard indicating whether particular staff members are on or off duty, 1950s/1960s.

(Maitland Hospital Collection Item 71)

The men whose names are on this noticeboard worked as wardsmen and surgical dressers at Maitland Hospital between 1939 and the early 1980s. Collectively, they were employed by the hospital for more than 130 years.

When David Skimmings, HealthShare Manager at the hospital in 2021, joined the staff as a wardsman/surgical dresser in the early 1980s, three of the men – Tom Settle, Bill Moffatt and Lyle Guy – were still working at the hospital. The other three – Clive Cooke, Harry Cliff and Robert Simm – had retired.

Skimmings (right) recalls that the noticeboard used to hang outside the x-ray room to show which wardsman/surgical dresser was on duty.

He also recalls the type of surgical and other work they – and he  – did:

They did, for example, the hernia trusses. They’d measure the patient for the trusses. They also put people in traction, assisted with post-mortems and assisted in the operating theatres. It was on the job training and, once we were assessed as competent, we’d get a sticker on our badges.

The wardsmen also used to shave male patients in preparation for surgery. They would be trained how to do it, and get a sticker on their badges when they were regarded as competent in the task. They used to use the razor strop to sharpen the razors.

Bengall razor used by David Skimmings

(Maitland Hospital Collection 339)

The label inside the box reads: ‘…ground and set by Dilley …. High St West Maitland 30/9/64’

Bengall Razor

(Maitland Hospital Collection 110)

Bengall razor, open and ready to use

(Maitland Hospital Collection 110)

We also used to do the plasters etc. We would run the clinics with the orthopaedic surgeons every Thursday. Then we’d do the comfort back slabs, and then send the patients to the plaster clinic.

We stopped doing most of the surgical and other work about twenty years ago. A lot is now done by physiotherapists.  Wardsmen are now mainly about portering.

Significance

The noticeboard is of historic significance as an example of the style and type of noticeboard used in the 1950s/1960s to indicate which staff member was on duty. It is also of significance for naming six long-term employees of The Maitland Hospital.

The Bengall Razors are representative of equipment used for shaving male patients in preparation for surgery and other medical treatments.

References

David Skimmings talking to Janis Wilton at the Maitland Hospital, 26 February 2020.