Rookwood Hospital

Rookwood Hospital is a spinal injuries rehabilitation hospital situated in Llandaff, in the city of Cardiff in South Wales. It is one of the only twelve spinal rehab hospitals in whole of United Kingdom. It is also a regional neuro-rehabilitation hospital. It is managed by Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust.

History
Rookwood was built in the year 1886 by the late Colonel Sir Edward Hill, for his own occupation and he, and subsequently Lady Hill, lived there until 1917.

The Name
The name 'Rookwood' has an interesting origin. It was given to the house during its course of construction byLady Hill. Before her marriage she was brought to see the building operations and was asked to find a suitable name for it. When she came to the property a number of Rooks were flying overhead and she immediately thought of 'Rookwood', and decided that should be the name.

Early Hospital
In 1918, Rookwood was taken over for convalescent home. At the end of First World War it was purchased by Sir Lawrence Phillips and presented it to the ministry as a home for Welsh Paraplegic Pensioner cases. After this it was used by the University Hospital of Wales. In 1932 it became a General Hospital after extension.

Spinal Unit
During the 1970s and 80s, Rookwood had eight wards caring for people with spinal injuries, brain injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease. In 2001 the Spinal unit moved to ward 4 and 5 with 31 beds for Spinal Injuries and 5 beds for Amputees.

Psychologists
Rookwood has an active clinical psychology department.