Joint hospital boards
Joint hospital boards were set up when local authorities combined under enabling powers in the various public health and local government acts. One or more burghs might combine with parochial boards (until 1889) or the county council (after 1889) to provide a hospital which would then be governed by a joint board.
The Public Health (Scotland) Act 1867 permitted local authorities (town councils, police commissioners or parochial boards) to combine to provide hospitals. [1] The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, transferred the power to build hospitals from parochial boards to county councils.[2] The Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897 enabled local authorities to combine to provide and maintain hospitals for people with infectious diseases and convalescent hospitals.[3]
Joint hospital boards were no longer required from 1930 because the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 gave responsibility for hospitals to county councils and the town councils of large burghs and removed it from small burghs.[4] The act provided for the possibility of continuing combinations but in practice this was not necessary for hospital provision.[5]
Surviving records of joint hospital boards are held by local authority archives services.
Compilers: SCAN contributors (2000). Editor: Elspeth Reid (2021)
Related Knowledge Base entries
Hospitals and local health provision under the NHS
Bibliography
McLachlan, Gordon (ed.) Improving the Common Weal: Aspects of Scottish health services 1900-1984 (Edinburgh University Press for the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust, 1987)
References
[1] Public Health (Scotland) Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c.101) s.39.
[2] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c.50) s.17.
[3] Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897 (60 & 61 Vict. c.38) s.66.
[4] Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25) s.27.
[5] Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25) s.11.