History
It was opened in 1802 after being founded by the London Fever Movement in the preceding year (Nick Black, Walking London’s Medical History, 2006)
It originally had 15 beds (Nick Black, Walking London’s Medical History, 2006)
On the foundation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, it joined with several smaller hospitals including the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital to form the Royal Free Group
In 1991 the group became the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust
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What was reforming about it?
As a hospital for contagious diseases close to a populated urban area, it was controversial
Where in Bloomsbury
Its original location was 2 Constitution Row, Gray’s Inn Road (building demolished), where it was established “to the great horror of its neighbours, who threatened indictment, and prepared for litigation” (Charles Dickens, ‘Growth of a Hospital’, All the Year Round, 10 August 1861)
It moved in 1815 to the second of two buildings on the Battle Bridge site on the edge of Bloomsbury, adjoining the Smallpox Hospital
Both hospitals had to move in 1848 when the Metropolitan Railway was extended; the Fever Hospital moved to Islington
Website of current institution
The institution which superseded it is part of the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, www.royalfree.nhs.uk (opens in new window)
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Books about it
See Lynne A. Amidon, An Illustrated History of the Royal Free Hospital (1996), which includes some material relating to the Fever Hospital
Archives
Its extensive administrative and medical records are held at the London Metropolitan Archives, ref. GB 0074 H71/LF; details are available online via www.aim25.ac.uk (opens in new window)
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