In the original plans of Rotherham Hospital all wards were placed about 65 feet apart from each other for reasons of proper ventilation. The wards were placed on the south so that they received good amounts of natural light. The convalescent day rooms were placed between the wards to gain the advantages of well lit rooms whilst diminishing the separation and ventilation space between the wards. “The operating room should have a north or east light while the accident-ward a south light like the others”, wrote one Doctor of Medicine in a letter printed by the Rotherham and Masbro’ Advertiser (April 24th, 1869).
In 1868 Mr Yates was hoping to provide 25 beds with the main purpose of treating serious workplace accidents of local men. The Rev. H. M. White remarked that a medical authority had calculated that there should be 1 bed to every 1,000 population. The Rotherham district was thought to contain 44,000 people therefore a 40 bed hospital was needed but the general agreement at the public meeting was to begin with a modest 25.
The public hospital would only admit certain people, in a constitution committee meeting in 1868 it was decided that if a person earning £1 per week had an accident through which he lost his wages then he would be admitted. However if when not at work the person still received £1 then he would not be allowed to become a patient. This became Rule 65 of the Hospitals Rules which stated that, “No person who is able to pay for medical expenses shall be admitted to the benefits of this Charity, except in cases of severe accidents, or for capital operations.”
The Rotherham Gas Company donated 100 guineas towards the erection of the Rotherham Hospital in Oct 1868. The proposal followed after one of their 25 gas works employees died in Sheffield Hospital subsequent to an accident, and it was felt the long distance he had had to be conveyed had contributed to his death. Mr M. Turk contributed that “In his opinion every company in the neighbourhood, not the Gas Company alone, should adopt a similar course. Accidents were liable to occur in their own works, and he thought it was hard to send the sufferers all the way to Sheffield, when they might have an infirmary close at hand” (Rotherham Advertiser- October 24th 1868)
A number of subscriptions offered towards the new hospital came from workmen of local companies including Iron works, Collieries, Breweries and Midland Railway Company.
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