Shropshire hospital axes Jimmy Savile plaque
A?foundation stone laid by Sir Jimmy Savile at a Shropshire hospital has been removed in the wake of the child sex scandal.
Bosses of the Shropshire-based Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries have removed the stone laid by the Radio 1 and BBC TV star in 1999. The veteran DJ and charity worker kicked off work on the centre at the Orthopaedic Hospital near Oswestry in May 1999.
He toured hospital wards, met staff and patients then stripped to the waist to dig the first sod for the building using a specially engraved spade.
Now the foundation stone commemorating his visit and the start of the work has been taken away on the instructions of the hospital trust board.
Savile, who died last October aged 84, has been accused of hundreds of sex attacks on vulnerable children in the wake of an ITV documentary.
Wendy Farrington-Chadd, chief executive at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said:
"Jimmy Savile visited the Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries, at Oswestry, once in May 1999, to lay a foundation stone for the new building.
"In light of the allegations, we have removed the stone and all references to him within the hospital."
The Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries was built thanks to a £3.5 million fundraising appeal, with much of the money coming from local people.
Savile was chosen to cut the first sod because of his links with the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, also famous for its work with spinal injury patients. He received no payment for his visit to the orthpaedic hospital.
Princess Anne, patron of the Spinal Injuries Association, visited the works the following March and the centre was opened that October. It replaced the old hut-like wards that had housed the centre for more than 30 years.
The huts dated back to the 1920s and were totally unsuited for caring for the spinal injury patients, many of whom spend months at the hospital.
By Sue Austin
