The National Temperance Hospital (London Temperance Hospital before 1939) is an abandoned hospital in Hampstead Road, London, near Camden Town. It opened on 6 October 1873[1] by initiative of the National Temperance League, and was managed by a board of 12 teetotallers. Under its rules, the use of alcohol to treat patients was discouraged, but not outlawed: doctors could prescribe alcohol when they thought necessary for exceptional cases[2].
In 1931, Chicago magnate Samuel Insull donated $160,000 to build a new extension, the "Insull Memorial wing"[3].
It was incorporated into the National Health Service in 1948 and eventually came under the management of University College Hospital.
It was closed in 1990. In recent years the site has been considered for redevelopment or refurbishment into the new centre for the National Institute for Medical Research[4]. As at 2010 the original building still stands but boarded-up.