The Ghost of a Ward Matron- Hove General Hospital

The following accounts are based on true eyewitness accounts reported by close colleagues and friends who remain anonymous. The story was related to my mother by a nursing friend who worked a long time ago at the Old Hove General Hospital. She had completed her nursing training and worked as a night Sister. The Ward she worked on, was separate from the main Hospital building, on a male Ward. The story was told by Junior nurses, who, worked on the Wards to each other as well as by Doctors. It was according to her Common knowledge around the Hospital and made up part of the legends and History of the place.. A Dedicated Night Matron who had worked on the ward, and who was due to retire, had fallen ill, and was rushed into the same Hospitals, Accident and Emergency Department. She was operated on immediately, because of internal bleeding, but sadly did not recover. For whatever reason, she did not recover from the Operation. The ward that she worked on and had been appointed to, as a Night Sister, was the Ward that had belonged to the Matron, when she was alive.
The friend of my mothers did not believe in Ghosts and believed it was a story told to new Juniors, and to keep them amused. Rumours had spread amongst them that particular Ward was haunted by Her Ghost. Strange Noises, the manifestation of her Ghost, appearances as well as the disappearance and reappearance of Instruments and Objects were often nightly occurrences.
According to my mother’s friend, she was working on the Ward, and all the patients had turned in for the night, and had their main evening meals. There was only one access point which was the main entrance. She had filled the notes, with her pen and reviewed them, and had settled down at her desk, at the Main Ward Bay. It was about 3-30am in the Morning, from the Ward Clock on her desk. She did her round and saw that all of her patients were safely asleep and tucked up in Bed and accounted for. She had sat down, and returned to the Main bay, when she heard the flush of a Toilet. Disturbed, she looked at all the beds and saw that all were still there, and accounted for - tucked up safely in bed. She was the only one on, so she was shocked by the sound of the noise. She went through the Door to the Toilet, and checked each cubicle out. Her face went pale, and her heart had skipped a few beats. To this day, she says that there was absolutely no one there, so what then had caused the flushing and who had pulled on one of the chains.

It is known because of personal sense of duty, sometimes Ghosts, form attachments to particular buildings, or to locations, that were important to them when they were alive. I can only assume that this was the case and I have no reason to doubt her testimony. It was the 1960’s so that particular ward was pulled down, and which had been used in the War, and now a Modern Day Car park has been built over the site, and the haunting is certainly no longer an active one.