Royal London Hospital - History

History

The London Hospital Medical College, the first in England and Wales, was founded in 1785. It amalgamated in 1995 with St Bartholomews Hospital Medical College, under the aegis of Queen Mary and Westfield College, now known as Queen Mary, University of London, to become St Bartholomews and The Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry (name changed to Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry in 2007).

The present School of Nursing and Midwifery was formed in 1994 by the merger of the Schools from St Bartholomew's Hospital and The Royal London Hospital to become the St Bartholomew School of Nursing & Midwifery. Prior to this, the school of nursing was known as The Princess Alexandra College of Nursing and Midwifery. In 1995 the new Nursing School was incorporated into City University, London. Both Schools have a strong and respected history dating back over 120 years and have produced many nurse leaders and educators. The School has since been incorporated into the School of Health Sciences, City University.

In March 2005 planning permission was granted for a £1 billion redevelopment and expansion of The Royal London Hospital. On completion of the project, the hospital will have London’s leading trauma and emergency care centre, one of Europe’s largest renal services and the capital’s second biggest paediatric service. Barts is also undergoing redevelopment and will become a cancer and cardiac centre of excellence.

Joseph Merrick, known as the "Elephant Man", spent the last few years of life at The Royal London Hospital and his mounted skeleton is currently housed at the Medical School, but is not on public display.

The TV series Casualty 1909, as well as past series Casualty 1906 and Casualty 1907, are set there, and follow the everyday life of the hospital throughout these years. Some of the storylines are based on actual cases drawn from the hospital records.