An operating theatre at Glasgow Royal Infirmary c 1914.
The patient is tilted at a steep angle, probably to reduce the bleeding around the area of the chest on which the surgeon is operating. The operation is being conducted in natural light from the window, rather than light from the lamps above the table.
Towards the end of their useful lives, theatres like this one became notorious for their unsafe wiring and faulty plumbing.
Reference: RCPSG 28/91
Reproduced with the permission of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
Keywords:
Glasgow Royal Infirmary, infirmaries, operating theatres, patients, Robert and James Dick Block, surgeons, surgery, Surgical Block, surgical operations, surgical theatres, theatre nurses, voluntary hospitals, women