The Bedford Independent has reported on how Bedford Hospital’s application to remove over 20 historic nursery rhyme tiles has been rejected by Bedford Borough Council.
The Bedford Independent writes:
Bedford Hospital’s application to remove over 20 historic nursery rhyme tiles has been rejected by Bedford Borough Council. The hospital said the application was in response to recommendations made during a CQC inspection in 2015. Bedford Hospital NHS Trust say they’ll now ‘continue to explore other options’.
The 21 tiles were installed in the Victoria Ward in 1897 to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee after a group of local ladies commissioned them ‘for the enjoyment of children’. Campaigners, who said removal of the tiles would be ‘cultural vandalism’ received support from across the country, with Historic England even objecting to the application.
Myra Davies, who launched the campaign to save the tiles, said: ‘We’re absolutely ecstatic that Bedford Borough Council’s Planning Committee has seen sense. The application was so unthinking, we should be celebrating these works of art, not getting rid of them. I’d like to thank English Heritage for their support, we couldn’t have done this without them.’
270 other objections were also received with medical professionals commenting that there was no link to the tiles and infection, saying they can be cleaned just like any other surface. At the time of the campaign, Linda Wilding, who worked at Bedford Hospital as a senior infection control nurse said: ‘Infection spreads through touch and washing hands after a ‘dirty’ task breaks the cycle of infection. The environment is important in infection control in relation to cleaning and disinfection too, but these tiles are on the walls and are able to be cleaned like any other surface. When I worked there I was asked if they put patients at risk, but I told them then there was no risk.’
For more background see the BBC News Report
