Hospital History

The Trust is a specialist hospital providing elective orthopaedic surgery and musculoskeletal medical services. It is committed to providing the best possible care, training and research to serve the people of both England and Wales, and beyond. It also provides some local hospital services for the communities in and around Oswestry.

The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS hospital specialising primarily in bone and joint disorders, with specific additional areas of expertise including spinal disorders and metabolic disorders affecting muscular development. It was founded by a visionary nurse and an eminent orthopaedic surgeon early in the last century. Dame Agnes and Sir Robert pioneered concepts commonplace today, but unheard of in the first half of the 20th century. They established traditions of innovative treatment, care, dedication and professionalism which still guide the Trust today. Their legacy has been a hospital which continually raises standards, one which pushes boundaries in areas like community-based care, holistic approaches to treatment and multi-disciplinary working between clinicians, physiotherapists and other professionals.

The hospital achieved Trust status in 1994 and Foundation Trust status in 2011. It strives for continual, improving excellence in clinical care, research and training, and has strong links with orthopaedic and musculo-skeletal professionals in the UK and abroad. 

Factsheets on the History of the Hospital

1. Sir Robert Jones: a Brief Biography
2. Dame Agnes Hunt: a Brief Biography
3. Dates in the History of the Hospital and its Founders
4. The Hospital Coat of Arms
5. The Naming of the Wards
6. The Hospital Corridor
7. The Baschurch Home
8. Open-sided Wards
9. The Hospital in World War Two
10. The Fire of 1948
11. The Typhoid Outbreak of 1948
12. Hospital Departments: Key Dates and Sources of Information
13. Oswestry Surgeons and Physicians
14. Hospital Matrons 1900-2008
15. Hospital Management and Chairmen 1921 - 2008
16. Education for Orthopaedic Surgeons
17. School of Nursing
18. School of Physiotherapy
19. Old Oswestrians' Club / Oswestry League of Nurses / Old Oswestrian Physiotherapists' Association
20. The After-Care Scheme
21. The Hospital School
22. The League of Friends
23. Derwen College
24. Entertainment for Patients and Staff
25. Arts Projects
26. The Dance of Life Mural
27. Royal Visits to the Hospital 1911 - 2008
28. Published Resources on the History of the Hospital and its Founders
29. Hospital Journals / Annual Reports / Committee Minutes
30. Published Postcards of the Hospital
31. A Circular Tour of the Hospital with Reference to its History
32. The Bonesetters of Anglesey and Hugh Owen Thomas

The factsheets were compiled by Marie Carter, Archives Officer, formerly Health Sciences Librarian at the hospital. The factsheets are free to download for personal use, but users are asked to respect the Hospital’s copyright in these materials.

For more information on the history of the hospital

Contact  Marie Carter, Archives Officer
Tel: 01691 404388
Email archives@rjah.nhs.uk

Books on the history of the hospital

• Postal form to purchase A Breath of Fresh Air - Memories of the Orthopaedic Hospital
• Postal form to purchase Healing & Hope – 100 years of ‘The Orthopaedic’

Books can be purchased from the League of Friends Shop at the hospital or you can download a postal order form to send to us from the links above.

Other websites

Marie Carter worked with the Shropshire Routes to Roots project team on the Medicine and Health themes section of the Shropshire Routes to Roots website. It includes information on Dame Agnes, one of the earliest patients Flora Hamer and the Orthopaedic's role in World War II. Visit the Shropshire Routes to Roots website.