University Hospital Llandough

In the first decade the 20th century the Cardiff Board of Guardians realised that the existing accommodation for the sick at the City Lodge was inadequate and waiting lists for admission there had been in excess of 2000 patients at any one time.{{cite book |title=Llandough Hospital |date=1933 |location=Cardiff}} In order to relieve pressure on the existing hospitals, in 1912 a 48-acre site at Llandough was purchased with a view to building a new hospital there. The First World War and the death of the original architect intended for the project caused significant delays in its planning, but progress had been made by the mid-1920s after a public enquiry for the provision of the hospital. The design involved a pavilion layout which was common of hospitals of the time. Construction of the hospital began in 1928, with Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood laying the foundation stone, and was completed in 1933.

This design had the five original wards being set perpendicular to a long, central corridor, with an administrative block at its centre. This had the benefit of the wards being away from the noise of the kitchens and boiler houses, while also allowing for easy expansion of the hospital in subsequent decades. Each ward was built with a large solarium at its south end to allow patients exposure to the sun and fresh air when the windows were open, which at the time was believed to be an integral part of a patient's rehabilitation. A commemorative leaflet published shortly after the hospital opened outlined the use of modern technology in the hospital's design. Of note is the mention of a lamp system for silently communicating between members of staff throughout the hospital without disturbing patients.

The high incidence of disease in the South Wales mining valleys, particularly in the anthracite mines, caused the Medical Research Council to establish a pneumoconiosis unit at the hospital to research these issues in 1945.{{cite journal|url=https://pmj.bmj.com/content/75/883/257.short|title=Medical research in the Rhondda valleys|first=Hugh|last=Thomas|date=1999 |journal=Postgraduate Medical Journal|volume=75 |issue=883 |pages=257–259 |doi=10.1136/pgmj.75.883.257|pmid=10533625 |pmc=1741226 |access-date=23 February 2019}} The hospital joined the National Health Service in 1948{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/hospitalrecords/details.asp?id=2475&page=77|title=Llandough Hospital, Penarth|publisher=National Archives|access-date=23 February 2019}} and expanded significantly in the subsequent decades, with more wards being built in several phases of construction. The main hospital corridor has expanded to a length of over half a kilometre on the first floor as a result.{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiffandvaleuhb.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/documents/1143/Copy%20of%20UHL%20A%20-%20Z%20Fact%20Sheet%20April%202017%20patient.pdf|title=University Hospital Llandough Factsheet|publisher=Cardiff and Vale University Health Board|access-date=17 July 2020}}

The hospital was renamed the University Hospital Llandough in 2008 to reflect its links with the Cardiff University School of Medicine.{{Coflein|num=414922|desc=University Hospital Llandough|access-date=23 February 2019}}

Inpatient adult mental health services were transferred to Llandough in 2016 with the opening of the Hafan y Coed unit.{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiffandvaleuhb.wales.nhs.uk/hyc-in-the-news|title=Hafan y Coed in the news|publisher=Cardiff and Vale University Health Board|access-date=17 July 2020}} Services were transferred here from Whitchurch Hospital which closed its doors in the same year.{{Cite news|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/people-being-arrested-trespassing-largely-13626294#ICID=FB-Wales-main|title=People arrested trespassing on a derelict Cardiff mental hospital|last=Owen|first=Cathy|date=2017-09-15|work=walesonline|access-date=2017-09-18}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-35766956|title=Whitchurch Hospital: The 'spooky place' that is set to close|date=17 March 2016|publisher=BBC|access-date=4 February 2019}}

The hospital is home to the Rookwood Sound radio station after it was transferred there from Rookwood Hospital in 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiffandvaleuhb.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/documents/1143/Copy%20of%20UHL%20A%20-%20Z%20Fact%20Sheet%20April%202017%20patient.pdf|title=University Hospital Llandough Factsheet|publisher=Cardiff and Vale University Health Board|access-date=17 July 2020}}

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• {{Official site|https://cavuhb.nhs.wales/hospitals-and-health-centres/our-hospitals/university-hospital-llandough/}}

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Category:Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Category:Hospitals in the Vale of Glamorgan

Category:NHS hospitals in Wales

Category:1933 establishments in Wales