NHS 60: Tales from the isolation ward

9:20am Friday 4th July 2008

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WHEN she was nine-years-old Cathrine Boydell spent five weeks in Warrington Isolation Hospital suffering from scarlet fever.

“I can remember very clearly a maroon ambulance coming to pick me up because an ordinary ambulance was not allowed to carry us people – us infected ones,” she said.

“During that time in hospital I wasn’t allowed any visitors whatsoever. I remember being told that I wasn’t allowed to take anything into hospital that I would want to bring back out because everything was incinerated when we were ready to leave,” said Cathrine.

“One day I spotted my mother at the window trying to have a look at me. I can remember that being even more disturbing than not seeing her at all.”

Scarlet fever was treated so seriously that Cathrine’s home, in Winwick, had to be fumigated and her brother and sister were banned from school for two weeks.

Her memories of her time in hospital are very clear.

“The nurses were very strict, we were allowed very few treats.

“In fact there was one nurse who lived in the same village as us and my parents used to send in treats with her and then send me letters asking if I enjoyed the peppermint cream – but I had never seen it,” she said.

“Mum was told ‘you can’t give children too many sweets or they’ll be sick’,” added Cathrine, who is now 69 and lives in Birchall Avenue, Culcheth.

“I had very long hair when I went in there and the nurses used to drag this comb through it. I remember my mum asking if I would like a treat when I came out, and I said ‘yes please, I want my hair cutting off’,” she said.

“It was 60 years ago but I remember it all very vividly. I suspect because it was quite a horrendous thing to happen to me,” said Cathrine.