But from the beginning, Garth Stoneham was a fighter. He fought to get Risedale recognized as a training school for mid-wives and to make Risedale respectable, and above all to dispel its "rough and ready" image. He transformed Risedale Maternity Home* into a proper Maternity Hospital that could cope with every obstetric problem, with the result that by the early 60s, Manchester Regional Health Authority records show that Barrow's statistical figures for maternity and child health were the highest in the area.
Untiring in his endeavours, Mr. Stoneham was responsible for the upgrading of wards and the new twin operating theatres at Roose,** (1963) which replaced ordinary curtained off rooms.
Untiring in his endeavours, Mr. Stoneham was responsible for the upgrading of wards and the new twin operating theatres at Roose,** (1963) which replaced ordinary curtained off rooms.
*The building was originally called Risedale Villa and was built in the 1870s by Joseph Rawcliffe. In 1921 the building opened as Risedale Maternity Home. In addition to maternity work, arrangements were made for the treatment of cases of atrophy and debility in very young children. The Maternity Home, on Abbey Road closed in 1984. Risedale Retirement Home purchased the building in 1986 and a Retirement Home opened in 1987.
** Roose Hospital, the former workhouse closed in 1993 and was demolished some years later to make way for a new housing estate. Stoneham Close forms part of this estate,a reminder of this brilliant gynaecologist.
He took pregnancy sickness seriously, and prescribed the necessary medication. With the limitations and facilities available at the time, his infertility investigations were of a high standard.
** Roose Hospital, the former workhouse closed in 1993 and was demolished some years later to make way for a new housing estate. Stoneham Close forms part of this estate,a reminder of this brilliant gynaecologist.
He took pregnancy sickness seriously, and prescribed the necessary medication. With the limitations and facilities available at the time, his infertility investigations were of a high standard.
He was ahead of his time in his treatment for the menopause. As early as the 1950s, in his clinics, hormone replacements were being implanted into women's abdominal walls.
Tall and distinguished, the legendary Garth Stoneham was admired and loved by Staff and patients alike, albeit his way of doing things was the only way, and woe betide anyone who did not conform. Sister Angela Jones, his theatre sister for fourteen years, shared a 'love-hate' relationship with him, and describes him as dynamic, outstanding, dedicated, and punctual to the 'nth degree. Although every day, from morning till night, was taken up with operations, at Roose Hospital or Ulverston's Stanley Hospital, ward rounds, clinics (gynaecological or ante or post natal at Risedale or Oubas House Maternity Hospitals), he always had time for each individual patient and spared time to listen and answer questions, even to recommending a bottle of Guinness a day to help speed up recovery!
Dr. Vaidya, worked with Mr. Stoneham as his registrar, from 1964-1970, and regarded this "hard chocolate with a soft centre" as his guide and friend. Obstetricians in general have always been held in high esteem, because they contribute to the constant miracle the birth of a baby, when the ultimate achievement of being a woman is reached in motherhood. Barrow's grandmothers and mothers long ago deified their favourite obstetrician, Garth Stoneham. If, God-like, he gloried in this adulation, it was only what he deserved, for according to Dr. Vaidya, "he earned every ounce of respect he got from women".
Mary Dick was Mr. Stoneham's very first patient. She had her first baby 26 November, 1939, and the following day she was rushed to Devonshire Road Hospital with septicaemia and puerperal fever. Mary cannot speak highly enough of Mr. Stoneham, who she remembered as a tall, handsome man — but more importantly, as the doctor who saved her life; he was called in when her 'case' had baffled the local doctors who were rather wary of this 'new boy' who called himself 'Mr.' and not 'Doctor'. According to Mary, Mr. Stoneham was there at the very hour he was needed, and she says, "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for him".
Mary Dick was Mr. Stoneham's very first patient. She had her first baby 26 November, 1939, and the following day she was rushed to Devonshire Road Hospital with septicaemia and puerperal fever. Mary cannot speak highly enough of Mr. Stoneham, who she remembered as a tall, handsome man — but more importantly, as the doctor who saved her life; he was called in when her 'case' had baffled the local doctors who were rather wary of this 'new boy' who called himself 'Mr.' and not 'Doctor'. According to Mary, Mr. Stoneham was there at the very hour he was needed, and she says, "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for him".
