Broadgreen Hospital - History

History

Broadgreen was first established as an epileptic home and later as a sanatorium for the treatment of tuberculosis in the early 20th century, when it was then known as Highfield Infirmary. Following the bombing of city centre hospitals during World War II, and the introduction of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, Broadgreen was expanded into a significant district general hospital. However, due a review of local health care provisions within the city in 1989, and the ongoing reforms of the NHS, the conservative government of the time opted to close the hospital's accident and emergency department and centralise the service elsewhere. Despite much local opposition to the move, acute services at Broadgreen were significantly downsized as a result. In April 1995, Broadgreen Hospital NHS Trust merged with Royal Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Trust to become Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust and all emergency and complex medical and surgical services, including A&E and ITU, were later transferred to the Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

Instead, Broadgreen Hospital now acts as the main centre within the city of Liverpool for all elective general, urological and orthopaedic surgery, diagnosis and treatment. It also specialises in rehabilitation of the Elderly and in January 1996 a new eighty-bedded facility was opened on the site.