History
The Royal Free Hospital was founded in 1828 by the surgeon William Marsden to provide - as the name indicates - free care to those of little means. It is said that one evening, Marsden found a young girl in the churchyard of St. Andrew's Church, Holborn, suffering from hypothermia, and sought help for her from one of the nearby hospitals. However, none would take the girl in, and she died in agony in Marsden's arms; the horror of the experience led him to establish the Royal Free.
In 1828 Marsden set up a small dispensary at 16 Greville Street, Holborn, called the London General Institution for the Gratiutious Care of Malignant Diseases. A royal charter was granted by Queen Victoria in 1837 after a cholera epidemic in which the hospital had extended care to many victims. As demand for in-patient facilities increased, it was constituted as the Royal Free Hospital, and moved to Gray's Inn Road in the 1840s. Another building in Liverpool Road, Islington, was used as an isolation hospital. In 1975, the facilities at Islington and Holborn were combined and moved to the current 12-storey cruciform tower block, built on the site of the former Hampstead Hospital.
The London School of Medicine for Women, since August 1998 a part of the UCL Medical School, was the first to train female doctors in the United Kingdom.
It also houses part of the UCL Medical School and its associated medical research facilities. Significant advances in the fields of liver medicine (hepatology) and transplantation; renal disease and dialysis; haematology and haemophilia have been made at the Royal Free and the trust now treats all patients needing dialysis in north and central London. The professorial department of liver medicine is recognised as one of the leading research units of its type in the world. It was founded by Professor Dame Sheila Sherlock.
The Royal Free was the first hospital in the UK to appoint a consultant in HIV medicine, in 1989. Dr. Margaret Johnson, a specialist in thoracic medicine, built the Royal Free Centre for HIV Medicine, which is at the forefront of treatment of HIV-AIDS. The outpatients' centre was opened in 1992 by Ian McKellen and is named after actor Ian Charleson. Its garden, where patients can relax, was opened by Elton John.
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—Terry Hands (b. 1941)
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