| Radcliffe Infirmary | |
| Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust | |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Location | Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | Public NHS |
| Hospital type | Specialist |
| Affiliated university | University of Oxford |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | n/a |
| Beds | 275 |
| Speciality | Oxford Eye Hospital |
| History | |
| Founded | 1770 |
| Closed | 2007 |
| Links | |
| Website | http://www.oxfordradcliffe.nhs.uk |
| Lists | Hospitals in England |
The Radcliffe Infirmary was a hospital in central Oxford, England, located at the southern end of Woodstock Road on the western side, backing onto Walton Street. The Radcliffe Infirmary, named after physician John Radcliffe, opened in 1770 and was Oxford's first hospital. It was finally closed in 2007[1].
In 1758, the initial proposals to build a hospital in Oxford were put forward at a meeting of the Radcliffe Trustees, who were administering John Radcliffe's estate. £4000 was made available for the new hospital, which was constructed on land given by Thomas Rowney, one of the two Members of Parliament for Oxford.
The fountain in front of the main infirmary building was introduced in 1858 and is of the Greek god Triton[2].
A number of pioneering moments in medical history occurred at the hospital. Penicillin was first tested on patients on 27 January 1941. The first Utah Array (later known as the BrainGate) implantation in a human (Kevin Warwick) took place on 14 March 2002[3].
The site was the location of the Oxford Eye Hospital.
The Infirmary was acquired by the University of Oxford in 2003 and closed for medical use in 2007[4] with services being transferred to purpose-built buildings at the John Radcliffe and Churchill Hospitals in nearby Headington. The site has been earmarked to consolidate the senior administrative offices of the University of Oxford[5]. It is being redeveloped by the University as the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, with planning permission approval in 2009.
The Woodstock Road entrance of the hospital was frequently seen in the ITV television series Inspector Morse.