The Sanatorium

Fascinating account

The history of a sanatorium for the treatment of consumption may seem a strange subject for an ebook but the ebook format is such an ideal medium for this excellent account of medical history in the early twentieth century, combining original and very thorough research, entertaining video interviews with former patients and staff, and some truly poignant photographs.

It’s hard to believe that the Sanatorium at Didworthy was established only 110 years ago as the stories seem to belong in archives from an earlier age, before effective treatments for tuberculosis (TB) were established, before the NHS, when patients spent long months even years in recovery, flat on their backs in often freezing conditions. The available treatments seem barbaric by today’s standard and the patients’ stoic resolve to grin and bear it is testament to the strength of character of previous generations.

However this is more than just a book about hardships before antibiotics. There is humour, romance – yes romance! - and a fascinating amount of detail into the effectiveness of the ‘fresh air and bed rest’ treatment from which modern medicine could learn a great deal. The Sanitorium staff were eager to create as pleasurable atmosphere as possible, with entertainments and activities provided, and treated the ‘whole patient’ from diagnosis through to effective support for returning to work and life-long coping strategies. Our modern practice of dishing out the drugs and then leaving the benefits system to cope with the long-term issues is made to look inadequate by the care and attention the patients received at these hospitals.

I have a personal interest in the material as well. In the 1970s while we were in Queensland my mother was diagnosed with what the local doctor called “Ross River Fever”. It wasn’t until many years later that the NHS diagnosed her condition as extra-pulmonary tuberculosis, and by then the disease had ravaged her insides. Her chemotherapy treatment though modern and effective was debilitating and exhausting for many months – she woke up many mornings having sweated all night to find her skin had turned a bizarre orange colour. Yet she was still expected to be able to go to work. So I read with great interest how TB was treated before the advent of drugs. I have to say that some things about the care of the patient haven’t improved.

Yes, there is a lot of detail here. The recreation of decisive meetings does succeed in making some of the detail more accessible and entertaining, but for me the most informative and interesting sections are the oral histories from the patients themselves. It is worth the purchase price for these alone, and the results are an archive as important as any oral history of the World Wars.

Certainly this is a must read for anyone interested in the social history in the first half of the twentieth century and for anyone interested in the history of medicine, both very popular topics in history right now. I am sure this very accessible account will justifiably reach a very wide audience.