Birmingham Accident Hospital - The Queen's Hospital (Birmingham)

The Queen's Hospital (Birmingham)

Earl Howe laid the foundation stone of the University of Birmingham Medical School's new teaching hospital on 18 June 1840, the building being completed the following year at a cost of £8,746. Henry Pepys, the Anglican Lord Bishop of Worcester presided over the ceremony formally opening the 70-bed hospital. This building was designed by Bateman and Drury and is a Grade II listed building.

The hospital expanded rapidly. By 1845 separate wards were added containing 28 beds for infectious and contagious disease cases, raising hospital capacity to 98. In 1867, adjacent grounds were purchased, and in 1871, Lord Leigh laid the foundation stone for a new outpatient department to the strains of a hymn written for the occasion by the Rev. Charles Kingsley and sung by 1,000 child choristers from the Birmingham Schools Choral Union. This building was designed by Martin & Chamberlain and is also Grade II listed.

In 1875, Queen's became a free hospital, abandoning the previous system whereby the hospital's financial supporters issued "subscriber's tickets" to authorize treatment. A one shilling admission fee was charged but could be waived.

In 1877, 16,117 patients were treated at Queen's, but by 1908, the patient count had more than doubled to 39,483, composed of 2,685 inpatients and 36,708 outpatients. Average annual expenditure from 1909 to 1911 was £14,729, against average receipts £10,778 leaving an average annual deficit of £3,951, covered by endowments and donations.

In 1900, William Humble Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley, took over the presidency of the hospital. A new block opened in 1908 with three stories of wards as well as a roof ward for six patients, the first of its kind in Europe. The integrated nursing home's capacity increased from 34 to 74 beds, and the hospital itself now had 60 medical and 118 surgical beds, totalling 178. Bed count and services provided continued to expand until closure.