| Biography | Charing Cross Hospital is a general, acute hospital located in London, United Kingdom and established in 1818. It is located several miles to the west of the city centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.
It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and is one of the Imperial College School of Medicine's teaching hospitals. It is a tertiary referral centre for neurosurgery, and is a national centre of excellence for gestational trophoblastic disease. It currently houses the serious injuries centre for West London.
The hospital is host to the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology and the West London Neuroscience centre. Additionally, there is a recently added day surgery unit, the Riverside Wing. The West London Mental Health NHS Trust also has buildings on site. The hospital hosts the largest and oldest gender identity clinic in the country, with 150 operations performed annually.
Charing Cross Hospital was started as the 'West London Infirmary and Dispensary' in 1818 at 16 Suffolk Street near the Haymarket Theatre by Dr. Benjamin Golding. The hospital was the dream of Dr. Golding who wanted to establish a place of healing for the poor. The then Duke of York was asked to become patron, which he accepted and the hospital was thenceforth known as the Royal West London Infirmary. Following this, the then Duchess of York and Duke of Cambridge became patrons.[4]
In 1821, the institution began to reach capacity, treating nearly 10000 patients a year. A new site was found at 28 Villiers Street, near Charing Cross in the heart of the metropolis. The infirmary provided accommodation for twelve beds. It was shortly after this move that there was a plan put in place to establish a medical school alongside the infirmary. The Charing Cross Hospital Medical School was recognised by the newly founded University of London in 1829, although the school had been training doctors since 1822. Over the following years, the list of benefactors and patrons grew, including many from the Royal Family.
In 1827, the name of the Royal West London Infirmary was changed to Charing Cross Hospital. Plans were drawn up by architect Mr Decimus Burton in 1830 and a site was found in the Strand. On 15 September 1831 the foundation stone was laid by the Duke of Sussex. The first completed ward was named after the daughter of the Duchess of Kent, Princess Victoria, who went on to become Queen Victoria. The principal ward for men was named Golding Ward after the founder. The hospital itself was completed in January 1834, the total cost of the build and furniture coming to £20000. In October 1834, the 22 medical students were transferred from Villiers street to the new building.
The hospital and medical school continued to expand. King's College London opened and wanted a medical school and offered Charing Cross a substantial amount of money for their students to be trained there. Dr Golding was opposed to the idea and after several years of negotiation, King's College decided to open their own hospital in 1839. During these years of negotiation, the school saw difficult times with the number of students enrolled plummeting. However, by 1840 the number of students leapt up and faith in the school was restored. Dr Golding suffered from a stroke in 1840. In 1854, the hospital was flourishing and the top floor of the hospital (which had been left as an empty carcass) was completed. In 1856, Dr. Golding retired as Director of Charing Cross Hospital Medical School. The hospital began to go through some difficult times, with many newer hospitals opening in close proximity and the establishment of newer, larger medical schools.
However, the institution continued on, 1866 saw the arrival of professional nursing staff and the hospital was expanded several times during the years, with a major rebuild in 1877 seeing the hospital double in size.
The hospital was further extended in 1902. In 1926, the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital was merged with Charing Cross Hospital.
After the second World War it was decided that the hospital should move out of central London. Several sites were considered and a large site was found at Northwick Park in Harrow. However, the University of London deemed that they would not be able to remain affiliated with the hospital should it move there and so it was decided to pass this site over to the Ministry of Health who developed it into the present Northwick Park Hospital.
In 1957 a link was proposed with Fulham and West London Hospitals. The proposal was controversial with the residents of Fulham, who wanted their existing hospital redeveloped not taken over. A public meeting was set up with the Mayor of Fulham and the Chairman of the hospital, Lord Inman explained that the decision was made by the Ministry of Health and that the hospital built would be well equipped and provide a full service. This allayed most fears. The new Charing Cross Hospital was opened in 1973 on Fulham Palace Road, on the site of the old Fulham Hospital. This new hospital was built at the then staggering cost of £15m. A fifteen storey building was built in the shape of a cross along with several lower storey buildings, and three high-rise residential blocks were to be built to house medical staff, nurses and medical students (which are still present: Golding, Parsons and Cliff houses respectively). Despite the move, it retained the Charing Cross name. Initially it was known as 'Charing Cross Hospital, Fulham' but over the years the 'Fulham' part has been dropped |