| Royal Free Hospital | |
| Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust | |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Location | Hampstead, London, England, United Kingdom |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | Public NHS |
| Hospital type | Teaching |
| Affiliated university | University College London |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | Yes Accident & Emergency |
| Beds | 839 |
| History | |
| Founded | 1828, 1970s present site |
| Links | |
| Website | http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk |
| Lists | Hospitals in England |
The Royal Free Hospital (also known simply as the Royal Free) is a major teaching hospital in Hampstead, London.
It has been rated 'excellent for quality of services and 'good' for quality of financial management by the Healthcare Commission in 2009.[1] The hospital is part of the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, which in turn is a member of the UCL Partners' academic health science centre.
The nearest London Underground station is Belsize Park.
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The Royal Free Hospital was founded in 1828 in Gray's Inn Road, Holborn, by the surgeon William Marsden to provide - as the name indicates - free care to those of little means. It is said that Marsden found a young girl in the churchyard of St. Andrew's Church, Holborn, suffering from hypothermia, and sought help 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.
A royal charter was granted by Queen Victoria in 1837 after a cholera epidemic in which the hospital had extended care to many victims. 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 recognized 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 in the UK to appoint a consultant in HIV medicine back 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 out-patients' 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.
In 1955 an apparent outbreak of an infectious illness categorised with a fever and subsequent persisting fatigue affected 292 members of staff and forced the hospital's closure between 25 July and 5 October. Although since debated whether the episode was of an infectious cause, or just an example of mass hysteria,[2] this was a notable case in the UK and eventually coined the term myalgic encephalomyelitis.[3]
In February 1998, the Royal Free held a press conference to coincide with the publication in The Lancet of a paper by Andrew Wakefield who claimed to have found a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism. This started a controversy which led to a crisis in public confidence over MMR and a fall in uptake of the vaccine. Wakefield left the medical school in October 2001, and was later struck off the UK medical register by the General Medical Council[4] following an investigation by The Sunday Times.[5][6]
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