Queen Mary's Hospital, formerly Queen Mary's Convalescent Auxiliary Hospitals, is a community hospital in

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip running north to south of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the U ...

in the

London Borough of Wandsworth Wandsworth () is a London boroughs, London borough in southwest London; it forms part of Inner London and has an estimated population of 329,677 inhabitants. Its main named areas are Battersea, Balham, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth, Wandsworth ...

. It is run by

St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, formerly called St George's Healthcare NHS Trust, is based in Tooting in the London Borough of Wandsworth, and serves a population of 1.3 million across southwest London. A large numbe ...

History

The hospital was founded in 1915, primarily by Mary Eleanor Gwynne-Holford as a military hospital to provide care for wounded soldiers. It was initially based at

Roehampton House Roehampton House is a Grade I listed house at Roehampton Lane, Roehampton, London. What is now the central block of the current building was built between 1710 and 1712 by the architect Thomas Archer and named Roehampton House. It was built on b ...

specialising in the care of amputees and soon became a world-renowned limb fitting and

amputee Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indiv ...

rehabilitation centre. A fully equipped hospital was built on site in the early 1920s, a plastic and oral surgery unit developed by Sir Harold Gillies moved onto the site in 1925 and a Tropical Diseases unit was established for former

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

in 1945. The hospital joined 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 " ...

late (in 1961). Following discovery of significant asbestos, the original site was left in 1983. The Douglas Bader Unit (named after double-amputee

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

pilot

Sir Douglas Bader Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, (; 21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared ...

), an established international centre of excellence in the field of research and development of rehabilitation techniques, was opened on the site by

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

in 1993. A major rebuilding programme was procured under the

Private Finance Initiative The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 199 ...

in 2004. The new facilities, designed by P. M. Devereux and built by

Bovis Lend Lease Lendlease is a globally integrated real estate company that creates and invests in communities, workplaces, retail, and infrastructure projects, headquartered in Barangaroo, New South Wales, Australia. History Founding The company was establ ...

at a cost of £55 million, were officially opened by the

Duke of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curren ...

on 1 November 2006. The hospital has its own museum, opened in 2010 in the main hospital building. At 00:17 on 16 February 2013 a fire started in Rose ward, a non public access unit. London Fire Brigade rescued its patients; in total 20 people were evacuated. The stop message (from firefighters that no further resources were required) was received at 02:18. London Ambulance Service treated patients affected.

Facilities

The hospital has a total of 88 beds; 46 for people who have had limb amputations and require neurorehabilitation and 42 for care, treatment and rehabilitation of older people. It does not have an accident and emergency (A&E) department. The Minor Injuries Unit at Queen Mary's is temporarily closed. The hospital also has three inpatient wards run by the

South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust is an NHS trust that provides mental health services for adults, older people, children and adolescents living in the London boroughs of Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth. ...

Transport

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

routes 265, 419, 493, 969 and N74 serve the hospital, stopping directly outside; and routes 85, 170 and 430 stop on a road behind the hospital. Barnes station is the closest railway station and is 15–20 minutes walk away.

Associations

British actor

James Beck Stanley James Carroll Beck (21 February 1929 – 6 August 1973) was an English actor who played the role of Private Walker, a cockney spiv, in the BBC sitcom ''Dad's Army'' from the show's beginning in 1968 until his sudden death in 1973. Ea ...

died from

pancreatitis Pancreatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large organ behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and a number of hormones. There are two main types: acute pancreatitis, and chronic pancr ...

at the hospital in 1973.''The Times'', death notice and obituary, 7 August 1973

References

External links