The Proposal for a Joint Hospital Scheme
The idea of establishing a Joint Hospital scheme for Tynemouth (Rural), Earsdon, and the Whitely and Monkseaton District Councils was initially introduced in January 1902, but it was promptly rejected by the Earsdon Urban District Council. Six months later, the Sanitary Committee of Tynemouth Town Council revisited the proposal, suggesting that an application be submitted to the Local Government Board to create a Joint Hospital Board consisting of three authorities: Tynemouth Town Council, Tynemouth Rural District Council, and Whitely and Monkseaton Urban District Council. Seghill and Earsdon Urban District Councils were also invited to participate in the initiative.
By November 1902, disagreements arose concerning the representation of each district on the proposed hospital board. Tynemouth Town Council lodged to have seven representatives, while the other three districts combined would have six. The other districts objected to Tynemouth Town Council holding an absolute majority and proposed that the scheme be abandoned unless equal representation was agreed upon. Consequently, negotiations began to establish a Joint Hospital Board for the urban districts of Seghill, Earsdon, Whitely, Monkseaton, and the Tynemouth Rural District.
On July 27, 1903, an advertisement appeared in the Shields Daily News placed by the Tynemouth Rural, Whitely & Monkseaton, Earsdon, and Seghill Urban Districts, soliciting tenders for the construction of a corrugated iron hospital at Scaffold Hill.
The Earsdon Joint Hospital Board (EJHB) was first inaugurated at a meeting held at Guardian Hall in North Shields on the 3rd September 1903 and was constituted under a provisional order on the 7th October 1903. This order was passed in the House of Commons in May 1904. The first meeting of the EJHB was held on October 11th 1904.
