'Material Cultures of the NHS hospital: Exploring Historical Spaces through Historical Objects

Following advancements in manual wheelchair technology in the 1930s, wheelchairs have
become increasingly central to the movement of individuals within the hospital environment.
The significance of the wheelchair, however, extends far beyond transportation. As material
objects, they continually cross boundaries between the medical, the sensory, and the
emotional. Nor do wheelchairs solely shape and change users' sensory experiences of hospital
environments and perceptions of illness; they also change how individuals in their presence,
consciously and unconsciously, behave, feel, and act.
Utilising the wheelchair to access sensory phenomena provides the project significant scope
to examine, for example, how changing NHS and governmental policy since 1948 has
affected the accessibility of the hospital setting. The project will also provide excellent
opportunities for public engagement and has the potential to assist museums' increasing drive
to widen accessibility, using an interactive sensory exhibition to uncover the everyday
experiences of the NHS hospital.