King's College Hospital is a major teaching hospital and major trauma centre in Denmark Hill, Camberwell in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH". It is managed by King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. It serves an

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

population of 700,000 in the

London borough The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at ...

s of Southwark and Lambeth, but also serves as a tertiary referral centre in certain specialties to millions of people in southern England. It is a large

teaching hospital A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...

and is, with

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

and St. Thomas' Hospital, the location of

King's College London School of Medicine GKT School of Medical Education (abbreviated: GKT) is the medical school of King's College London. The school has campuses at three institutions, Guy's Hospital (Southwark), King's College Hospital (Denmark Hill) and St Thomas' Hospital (Lambeth ...

and one of the institutions that comprise the

King's Health Partners King's Health Partners is an academic health science centre located in London, United Kingdom. It comprises King's College London, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and South London and Ma ...

, an academic health science centre. The chief executive is Dr Clive Kay.

History

Early history

King's was originally opened in 1840 in the disused St Clement Danes

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse' ...

in Portugal Street close to

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in develo ...

and King's College London itself. It was used as a training facility where medical students of King's College could practice and receive instruction from the college's own professors. The surrounding area there was composed of overcrowded slums characterised by poverty and disease. Within two years of opening, the hospital was treating 1,290 inpatients in 120 beds, with two patients sharing a bed by no means unusual. The main contractor for the new hospital was Lucas Brothers. It was one of the first hospitals to start nurse training, in 1856. Pioneer of aseptic surgery

Joseph Lister Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of ...

performed the first major elective surgery under strict antiseptic conditions in 1877. He helped propel the hospital to have a surgical unit comparable with the best in Europe. In the first years of the 20th century, demographic changes saw a decrease in the number of patients requiring treatment in the centre of London, and an increase of patients from further afield – notably Camberwell, Peckham and Brixton which were then suburbs on the outskirts of London. Following an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

in 1904, a foundation stone was laid for the new hospital, designed by William Pite, in 1909 at its present site at Denmark Hill, south of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. The move to Denmark Hill provided the hospital with a greenfield-site nearer to its patients. The building itself incorporated modern design principles to encourage adequate ventilation, used electric clocks throughout, contained only the second internal phone installation in

the UK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

at the time, and generated its own power through the use of

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

s. Pre-clinical training of medical students remained the responsibility of King's College London, whilst advanced medical training took place at the hospital under the auspices of a newly formed King's College Hospital Medical School. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, a large part of the hospital was requisitioned by the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

to create the 4th London General Hospital, a facility for the Royal Army Medical Corps to treat military casualties. A dental school was established at the same site in 1923. During this time most patients were still poor and highly vulnerable to

contagious disease A contagious disease is an infectious disease that is readily spread (that is, communicated) by transmission of a pathogen through contact (direct or indirect) with an infected person. A disease is often known to be contagious before medical ...

s such as

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

. In 1937 the private Guthrie wing was established with a donation from the Stock Exchange Dramatic and Operatic Society for wealthier patients to enjoy less crowded wards. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the hospital was used for treating casualties of air raids, and was fortunate never to sustain a major direct hit.

Modern history

King's College Hospital Day Surgery building

Following the creation of the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

in 1948, the hospital was granted Teaching Hospital status. In 1974 the NHS re-organisation saw King's become the centre for all health services management in its

catchment area In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

. The hospital's medical school was reunited with King's College in 1983 to form

King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry GKT School of Medical Education (abbreviated: GKT) is the medical school of King's College London. The school has campuses at three institutions, Guy's Hospital (Southwark), King's College Hospital (Denmark Hill) and St Thomas' Hospital (Lambeth ...

. A purpose-built medical education centre, the Weston Education Centre, was built in 1997 and contains a medical library as well as hosting conferences, symposia, and professional training events as well as containing public access computer rooms for students. In 1998 King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry merged with the United Medical and Dental Schools (UMDS) of Guy's and

St Thomas's Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large National Health Service, NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy' ...

s to form Guy's, King's and St Thomas's School of Medicine, commonly abbreviated to "GKT". The Golden Jubilee wing, intended to host a number of outpatient clinics as well as therapy suites for speech and language, occupational therapy and physiotherapy, was procured under a Private Finance Initiative contract in 2000. The works, which were carried by a joint venture of

Costain Costain is a surname of English, Scottish and Manx origin. When originating in Scotland and northern Ireland the surname is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic ''Mac Austain'', meaning "son of ''Austin''". The English surname is a reduced form of '' ...

and

Skanska Skanska AB () is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden. Skanska is the fifth-largest construction company in the world according to ''Construction Global'' magazine. Notable Skanska projects include renovation of t ...

at a cost of £50 million, were completed in 2002. In December 2013 it was announced that a proposed merger with Guy's and St Thomas' and

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, also known as SLaM, is an NHS foundation trust based in London, England, which specialises in mental health. It comprises four psychiatric hospitals (Bethlem Royal Hospital, Lambeth Hospital and ...

s had been suspended because of doubts about the reaction of the

Competition Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...

. The Trust took over the management of

Princess Royal University Hospital The Princess Royal University Hospital or PRUH is a large acute district general hospital situated in Locksbottom, near Farnborough, in the London Borough of Bromley. It is managed by King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. History The ho ...

in October 2013 after the dissolution of the South London Healthcare NHS Trust. Over Christmas 2013 8 patients there waited on trolleys for more than 12 hours for admission, the largest number of trolley waits in England.

Facilities

The hospital is situated mainly on Bessemer Road, which is completely contained within the hospital grounds. Although the classically-styled Hambleden Wing Entrance is still the official main entrance, the Golden Jubilee Wing Entrance about 100m to the north-east has become the de facto main entrance, due to it being directly opposite Caldecot Road (where pedestrians arrive from the Coldharbour Lane bus stops) and having the ambulance parking spaces in front of it. There is also the new walk-in A&E Entrance on Bessemer Road (previously located on Denmark Hill), next to the Golden Jubilee Wing and the Denmark Wing entrance and Ambulance Admissions on Denmark Hill (there is no unaccompanied patient access between A&E and the rest of the hospital), whilst on Bessemer Road is the Bessemer Wing Entrance and there is also the Cheyne Wing Entrance on an unnamed service road at the south-west of the main building. The Trust was one of the first such organisations to introduce a comprehensive public

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wav ...

service, which is free of charge courtesy of the Charitable Trust. A new outpatient unit with 48 consulting rooms and eight procedure rooms was built in 2022, with Premier Modula using offsite construction methods on a very constrained site.

Location

On the opposite side of the A215 ( Denmark Hill) is the Maudsley psychiatric hospital, which has close links with King's. The

Institute of Psychiatry The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) is a research institution dedicated to discovering what causes mental illness and diseases of the brain. In addition, its aim is to help identify new treatments for them and ways ...

is nearby and many doctors at King's collaborate with their academic colleagues in carrying out research in conditions such as

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

and

Motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most commo ...

. The Denmark Hill Campus of King's College London is also on Denmark Hill although the main Strand campus is further along the 68 bus route at

Aldwych Aldwych (pronounced ) is a street and the name of the area immediately surrounding it in central London, England, within the City of Westminster. The street starts east-northeast of Charing Cross, the conventional map centre-point of the city ...

. The nearest railway station is

Denmark Hill railway station Denmark Hill railway station is in the area of Denmark Hill in south London, England, on the South London and Catford Loop lines. It is down the line from . It is managed by Thameslink. History The station was built between 1864 and 1866. It ...

Media

The hospital was featured in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's documentary '' 24 Hours in A&E'' from 11 May 2011 to 16 June 2014. The documentary focuses on the hospital's

accident and emergency An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pa ...

department and is filmed using 70 different cameras strategically placed to capture the workings of the department without interference. It was also featured in

Louis Theroux Louis Sebastian Theroux (; born 20 May 1970) is a British-American documentarian, journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has received two British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award. After graduating fro ...

's 2016 documentary ''Drinking to Oblivion''.

Notable alumni

* James W. Black – 1924–2010

Nobel Prize for Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according ...

winner 1988 for his contribution to discoveries of important principles for drug treatment * William Bowman – 1837–1865 Ophthalmic surgeon, helped found Ophthalmological Society of the United Kingdom * John Leonard Dawson – 1932–1999 Serjeant Surgeon to the Royal Household of the United Kingdom *

Reita Faria Reita Faria Powell ( née Faria; born 23 August 1943) is an Indian physician, former model and the winner of the Miss World 1966 pageant. Born in Bombay to Goan parents, Faria is the first Asian woman to win the beauty contest. She is also t ...

– Indian model and Miss World 1966 * William Fergusson – 1840–1877 Surgeon, introduced practice of conservative amputation *

David Ferrier Sir David Ferrier FRS (13 January 1843 – 19 March 1928) was a pioneering Scottish neurologist and psychologist. Ferrier conducted experiments on the brains of animals such as monkeys and in 1881 became the first scientist to be prosecuted ...

– 1871–1908 Pioneering experimental neurologist *

Robert Daniel Lawrence Robert "Robin" Daniel Lawrence (18 November 1892 – 27 August 1968) was a British physician at King’s College Hospital, London. He was diagnosed with diabetes in 1920 and became an early recipient of insulin injections in the UK in 1923. He dev ...

, co-founder of Diabetes UK * Henry Lee, surgeon, pathologist and syphilologist *

– 1887–1893 Pioneer of antiseptic surgery * Victor Negus – 1887–1974 Laryngologist and comparative anatomist * Robert McCance (1898-1993) Effects of salt deficiency, iron regulation mechanism, ''The Chemical Composition of Foods'', modern nutrition * Dhani Ram Prem (1904–1979), the first Asian councillor of Birmingham and winner of

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

Audrey Smith Audrey Ursula Smith (21 May 1915 – 3 June 1981) was a British cryobiologist, who discovered the use of glycerol to protect human red blood cells during freezing. Early life and education Audrey Smith was born in India on 21 May 1915, and ...

(1915–1981), cryobiologist * Andy Williams – Knee and sports surgeon specialising in ligament injuries and known for treating

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

footballers.

References

External links

South London Press article: 'Campaigners delighted with plans for mental health area at King's'

The history of King's College Hospital

Official site of the National Health Service
{{authority control 1840 establishments in England Health in the London Borough of Lambeth Health in the London Borough of Southwark Hospitals established in 1840 King's College London NHS hospitals in London Teaching hospitals in London Camberwell