Royal United Hospital

Royal United Hospital
Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
Shown in Somerset
Geography
Location Bath, Somerset, England
Coordinates 51°23′30″N 2°23′28″W / 51.3917°N 2.3910°W / 51.3917; -2.3910Coordinates: 51°23′30″N 2°23′28″W / 51.3917°N 2.3910°W / 51.3917; -2.3910
Organisation
Care system NHS
Funding Public hospital
Hospital type Major Acute
Affiliated university University of Bath and the University of the West of England
Services
Emergency department Yes
Helipad Yes
Beds 565
History
Founded 1826
Links
Website www.ruh.nhs.uk
Lists Hospitals in England

The Royal United Hospital (RUH) is a major acute-care hospital, located in the Weston suburb of Bath, England, which lies approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) miles west of the Bath city centre. The hospital currently has 565 beds and occupies a 52 acres (21 ha) site.[1] It is the area's major accident and emergency hospital, with a helicopter landing point on the adjacent Lansdown Cricket Club field. The hospital is operated by the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust.

History

The Royal United Hospital takes its name from the union of the Bath Casualty Hospital founded in 1788 and the Bath City Dispensary and Infirmary founded in 1792. The Casualty Hospital was founded in response to the serious injuries sustained to labourers working on the buildings which were being constructed in the city. The Dispensary and Infirmary developed from the Bath Pauper Scheme, a charity founded in 1747 to provide medical treatment for destitute persons in Bath.

The combined institution opened as the Bath United Hospital in 1826 in Beau Street in a building designed by John Pinch the elder. It was awarded the title Royal by Queen Victoria in 1864 when a new wing, named the Albert Wing after the recently deceased Prince Consort, opened. This building was later occupied by Bath Technical College.[2]

Combe Park site

The original foyer showing 1930 building foundation stone

The hospital moved to its present site, Combe Park, on 11 December 1932. The site had previously been used for the large First World War Bath War Hospital from 1916 to 1922. By 1920 it had been renamed the Bath Ministry of Pensions Hospital, which it remained until it closed in 1929.[3] The site was also used by the Forbes Fraser Hospital and the Bath and Wessex Orthopaedic Hospital, both founded in 1924 and merged into the RUH about 1980.[4][5][6]

In 1959 it absorbed the Ear Nose and Throat Hospital and in 1973 the Bath Eye Infirmary, both located elsewhere in Bath.[2][7]

A former manor house on the site, originally medieval but remodelled in the 18th century, is used as an administrative building. The building is a Grade II* listed building due to its fine Adam style interior.[8]

In July 2011, the Dyson Centre for neonatal care opened for premature babies. Over half of the £6.1 million cost was raised by the hospital's charity, the Forever Friends Appeal.[9]

In 2015 and 2016 some services are being transferred from the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases to the RUH, including endoscopy and children's services,[10] following that hospital's takeover by the RUH Trust.[11]

The Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership offers services at Hillview Lodge on the north of the site and at Bath NHS House to the south of the site.[12]

2014 redevelopment

In 2008, plans were revealed for a £100 million redevelopment of the pre-World War II RUH North buildings, which would include an increase in single-occupancy rooms in line with Government targets.[13] In 2014 a five-year £110 million development plan was confirmed.[14] The development will include a new cancer centre, pharmacy, integrated therapies unit, pathology block, IT centre and 400 extra public car parking spaces.[15][16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Introducing the RUH". Royal United Hospital. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  2. 1 2 "A Potted History of the RUH". Royal United Hospital. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  3. ↑ David Beswick Lloyd (2007). The Family Doctors in Newbridge 1900 - 2000. Ralph Allen Press. p. 150. ASIN B001CRC1UC.
  4. ↑ "THE FORBES FRASER HOSPITAL, BATH: Medical opening Ceremony". British Medical Journal 2 (3317): 150–1. 26 July 1924. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.3317.150. PMC 2304686. PMID 20771681.
  5. ↑ "Forbes Fraser Hospital, Bath". Hospital Records Database. The National Archives. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  6. ↑ "Bath and Wessex Orthopaedic Hospital, Bath". Hospital Records Database. The National Archives. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  7. ↑ "Bath Eye Infirmary". Hospital Records Database. The National Archives. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  8. ↑ Historic England. "Manor House, Weston Lane  (Grade II*) (1395661)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  9. ↑ "Bath Royal United Hospital opens new neonatal care unit". BBC News. 23 July 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  10. ↑ "Children's services next to move from the Min to the Royal United Hospital in Bath". Bath Chronicle. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  11. ↑ Amanda Cameron (28 January 2015). "The Min hospital in Bath finally comes under the wing of the city's Royal United Hospital". Bath Chronicle. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  12. ↑ "Hillview Lodge". Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  13. ↑ "Hospital chief reveals £100m revamp of Bath hospital". Bristol Evening Post. 25 September 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  14. ↑ "£110m transformation to bring Bath's Royal United Hospital into the 21st century". Bath Chronicle. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  15. ↑ "Bath Royal United Hospital set out £110M transformation plans". UK Construction Media. 12 May 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  16. ↑ "Royal United Hospital in Bath plans for 400 more car parking spaces". Bath Chronicle. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.

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