The Proposal for a Joint Hospital Scheme
The idea of establishing a Joint Hospital Scheme for the districts of Tynemouth (Rural), Earsdon, and Whitley & Monkseaton first surfaced in January 1902. At the time, local authorities across the country were under increasing pressure to improve their public health infrastructure, particularly in response to repeated outbreaks of infectious diseases such as scarlet fever, diphtheria, and smallpox. Isolation hospitals had become a key part of this national movement, encouraged by the Local Government Board as a way for districts to pool resources and meet statutory requirements for disease control.
Despite this wider context, the initial proposal was quickly rejected by Earsdon Urban District Council. However, six months later the Sanitary Committee of Tynemouth Town Council revived the idea, recommending an application to the Local Government Board to create a Joint Hospital Board. This board would include Tynemouth Town Council, Tynemouth Rural District Council, and Whitley & Monkseaton Urban District Council, with invitations extended to Seghill and Earsdon Urban District Councils to join the scheme.
By November 1902, progress stalled over disagreements about representation. Tynemouth Town Council insisted on appointing seven representatives, leaving only six seats for all other districts combined. The other authorities objected to Tynemouth holding an absolute majority and made it clear they would not participate unless representation was equal. As a result, negotiations shifted toward forming a Joint Hospital Board for the urban districts of Seghill, Earsdon, Whitley, Monkseaton, and the Tynemouth Rural District.
On 27 July 1903, an advertisement appeared in the Shields Daily News inviting tenders for the construction of a corrugated iron hospital at Scaffold Hill. These prefabricated hospitals were widely used at the time: quick to erect, relatively inexpensive, and well suited to the urgent need for isolation facilities during disease outbreaks.
The Earsdon Joint Hospital Board (EJHB) was formally inaugurated at a meeting held at Guardian Hall in North Shields on 3 September 1903. It was constituted under a provisional order on 7 October 1903, later confirmed in the House of Commons in May 1904. The first official meeting of the EJHB took place on 11 October 1904, marking the beginning of coordinated public health provision for the surrounding districts.
The establishment of the EJHB reflects a broader shift in early 20th‑century Britain: a growing recognition that public health was a shared civic responsibility. By working together, local authorities could provide more effective protection against infectious disease than any one district could achieve alone.
