George Eliot Hospital

George Eliot Hospital is a single site hospital located on the outskirts of Nuneaton in Warwickshire, it is managed by the George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust. It provides a full range of emergency and elective medical services, including maternity services, to the local area. The Hospital is one of many local buildings named after Nuneaton-born author George Eliot, additionally many of the Hospital’s surgical and medical wards are named after characters within George Eliot novels (e.g. Felix Holt). The Hospital contains two theatres on the ground floor which are known as the ‘twin theatres’ and one on the first floor known as the ‘main theatre’.

History
The Hospital was opened in 1948 and replaced the Manor Hospital (located in the centre of Nuneaton) which has since turned into a private hospital. In 1982 the Hospital set up its own museum which was originally intended as a teaching aid but has evolved into one of the few NHS-owned museums in the country. The George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust was formed in April 1994 from the previous George Eliot Hospital Acute Unit & Nuneaton Maternity Hospital, Queen Elizabeth II visited the Hospital in December that year as part of her first visit to Nuneaton and unveiled a bust of herself which can be seen in the main entrance. An educational centre known as ‘GETEC’ was completed and opened in late 2006

Future
An Acute health trust report released in 2006 suggested that George Eliot Hospital should be downgraded and some of its services moved to the new University Hospital Coventry in the Walsgrave area of Coventry which is nearby. However the report has generated local opposition leading to protests both locally and nationally by a local protest group ‘Nuneaton People’s Protest Group’.