Hospitals of London

For several hundred years the hospitals of London have played a leading role in the development of modern medicine. However, during the twentieth century, over 1,000 have closed and their rich history has mostly been neglected. This book brings both these projects together, highlighting key places, people and the social history of London's hospitals using contemporary images. Included are voluntary general hospitals and the world's first specialist hospitals, many of which became internationally renowned undergraduate and postgraduate teaching centres, the huge mental asylums built in the late nineteenth century and, at the other end of the scale, local cottage hospitals. These hospitals joined the NHS at its introduction in July 1948 but, as medical treatments improved and financial budgets increasingly became more stringent, many were considered redundant and were closed, despite vociferous protests from local residents. Join the authors on a pictorial tour of London's hospitals, exploring the fascinating stories behind some of the city's most iconic institutions, including Great Ormond Street, St Bartholomew's Hospital and St Mary's Hospital.