The Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases is a small, specialist NHS hospital on the
Royal United Hospital
The Royal United Hospital (RUH) is a major acute-care hospital in the Weston suburb of Bath, England, which lies approximately west of the city centre. The hospital has 565 beds and occupies a site. It is the area's major accident and emergenc ...
(RUH) site in the northwestern outskirts of
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
, England.
The hospital was founded in 1738 as a general hospital for the poor in the city centre, where the frontage of its building still reads Royal Mineral Water Hospital. Thus it is known locally as "The Mineral Hospital" or "The Min". The hospital moved to a new building at the RUH site in 2019.
History
From the 16th century, the needs of the "deserving poor" who came to take the healing waters of the
Roman Baths
In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughout ...
were recognised and an act of 1597 gave them the right to free use of the waters. This attracted beggars and, although the act was repealed in 1714, large numbers of people were still attracted to the city and
St John's Hospital was only accessible to local residents. Plans were suggested for a hospital to receive them in 1716 with supporters who included
Lady Elizabeth Hastings
Lady Elizabeth Hastings (19 April 1682 – 21 December 1739), also known as Lady Betty, was an English philanthropist, religious devotee and supporter of women's education. She was an intelligent and energetic woman, with a wide circle of conn ...
,
Henry Hoare
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
*Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
,
Joseph Jekyll
Sir Joseph Jekyll (166319 August 1738), of Westminster, was a British barrister, judge and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons for 40 years from 1697 to 1738. He became Master of the Rolls in 1717.
Early lif ...
,
William Oliver and
Beau Nash
Beau Nash (18 October 1674 – 3 February 1762), born Richard Nash, was a celebrated dandy and leader of fashion in 18th-century Britain. He is best remembered as the Master of Ceremonies at the spa town of Bath.
Biography
Nash was born i ...
.
The hospital was founded in 1738 as The Mineral Water Hospital.
It provided care for the impoverished sick who were attracted to Bath because of the supposed healing properties of the
mineral water
Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may usually be still or sparkling (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases.
Tra ...
from the spa. The original building, which was designed by
John Wood the Elder
John Wood, the Elder (1704 – 23 May 1754) was an English architect, working mainly in Bath.
In 1740 he surveyed Stonehenge and the Stanton Drew stone circles. He later wrote extensively about Bladud and Neo-Druidism. Because of some o ...
, was built with
Bath stone
Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of ...
donated by
Ralph Allen
Ralph Allen (1693 – 29 June 1764) was an entrepreneur and philanthropist, who was notable for his reforms to the British postal system.
Allen was born in Cornwall but moved to Bath to work in the post office, becoming the postmaster a ...
and completed in 1742.
[ It was later enlarged, firstly in 1793 by the addition of an attic storey and later in 1860 by a second building erected on the west side of the earlier edifice.][ There is a fine ]pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedimen ...
, in Bath stone, on the 1860 building depicting the parable of the Good Samaritan
The parable of the Good Samaritan is told by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. It is about a traveler (implicitly understood to be Jewish) who is stripped of clothing, beaten, and left half dead alongside the road. First, a Jewish priest and then a ...
.[ The building was classified as ]Grade II* listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
in 1972.
In 2003, the hospital became an NHS Foundation Trust
A foundation trust is a semi-autonomous organisational unit within the National Health Service in England. They have a degree of independence from the Department of Health and Social Care (and, until the abolition of SHAs in 2013, their local s ...
, specialising in rheumatic disease
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic pain, chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, ...
and rehabilitation
Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to:
Health
* Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished
* Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...
, which received a three-star rating in 2005. The hospital had a large brain injury
An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, or o ...
rehabilitation service with separate units for adults, adolescents and children; this service closed in March 2013 as a result of financial pressures.
The hospital was named by the ''Health Service Journal
''Health Service Journal'' (''HSJ'') is a news service that covers policy and management in the National Health Service (NHS) in England.
History
The '' Poor Law Officers' Journal'' was established in 1892. In 1930, it changed its name after ...
'' as the best acute specialist trust to work for in 2015. At that time it had 208 full-time equivalent staff and a sickness absence rate of 3.18%. 91% of staff recommended it as a place for treatment and 79% recommended it as a place to work.
Royal United Hospitals
It was announced in January 2015 that the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases NHS Foundation Trust would be taken over by Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
The Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust runs the Royal United Hospital (RUH), a major acute-care hospital in Bath, England. The trust also runs the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (since 2015) and Sulis Hospital at ...
, after financial debts had built up toward £2million. During 2015 and 2016, some services were transferred to the Royal United Hospital
The Royal United Hospital (RUH) is a major acute-care hospital in the Weston suburb of Bath, England, which lies approximately west of the city centre. The hospital has 565 beds and occupies a site. It is the area's major accident and emergenc ...
(RUH), including endoscopy and children's services.
Construction started on a building at the RUH's Combe Park site in November 2017, to house the Royal National Hospital and the Brownsword Therapies centre. The first departments from the Mineral Hospital and the RUH transferred to the new building in September 2019, and all services were transferred to the RUH site by the end of that year. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. She became queen consort on 8 September 2022, upon the acc ...
, who is President of the Royal Osteoporosis Society
The Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS), formerly the National Osteoporosis Society, established in 1986, is the only UK-wide charity dedicated to improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis. It is based in Camerton, Somerse ...
, formally opened the hospital and therapies centre on 22 October 2019.
Five 18th-century oil paintings from the Mineral Water Hospital were re-hung at the RUH, notably a work of William Hoare
William Hoare of Bath (c. 1707 – 12 December 1792) was a British portraitist, painter and printmaker. From c. 1740 to 1759, he was the leading Oil painting, oil portraitist at Bath, Somerset, until Thomas Gainsborough arrived in the town. ...
titled ''Dr Oliver and Mr Pierce examining patients with Paralysis, Rheumatism and Leprosy''.
Services
The hospital provides local rheumatology services, and also has specialist clinics and services which attract referrals from a national population. Specialist rheumatology clinics include connective tissue disease
A connective tissue disease (collagenosis) is any disease that has the connective tissues of the body as a target of pathology. Connective tissue is any type of biological tissue with an extensive extracellular matrix that supports, binds togeth ...
, ankylosing spondylitis
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a type of arthritis characterized by long-term inflammation of the joints of the spine typically where the spine joins the pelvis. Occasionally areas affected may include other joints such as the shoulders or hip ...
, fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia (FM) is a medical condition defined by the presence of chronic widespread pain, fatigue, waking unrefreshed, cognitive symptoms, lower abdominal pain or cramps, and depression. Other symptoms include insomnia and a general hyp ...
, osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass, micro-architectural deterioration of bone tissue leading to bone fragility, and consequent increase in fracture risk. It is the most common reason for a broken bone ...
, and Paget's disease. The hospital is a regional centre of excellence for the treatment of lupus
Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Comm ...
.
Nationally commissioned specialist services include:
* Bath Centre for Fatigue Service – for adults experiencing longstanding fatigue linked to a variety of illnesses
* Bath Centre for Pain Services – pain rehabilitation for people with chronic pain, of all ages
* Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Service and the Complex Cancer Late Effects Rehabilitation Service – intensive rehabilitation for adults who are living with complex regional pain syndrome or the late effects of cancer treatment
Future of Mineral Hospital building
The historic city centre site at Upper Borough Walls was offered for sale by the RUH Trust in 2017. It was bought by Versant Developments & Homes of Winchester, who sold it to Singapore-based Fragrance Group in January 2018 for £21.5M. Fragrance Group, which owns other historic hotels in England, obtained planning permission in July 2021 to convert the building into a 160-bed hotel by removing 20th-century additions and building an extension, while protecting Roman features.
The planning committee of Bath and North East Somerset Council
Bath and North East Somerset Council is the local council for the district of Bath and North East Somerset in Somerset, England.
It is a unitary authority, with the powers and functions of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined ...
had rejected a 2020 application by Fragrance Group, after the proposed extension was criticised for its size and height.
Archives
Some records relating to the hospital are held at Bath Record Office
Bath Record Office holds the archives for the City of Bath, England. The archives are held at the Guildhall, High Street, Bath and run by the Bath & North East Somerset Council. Their mission statement reads "Bath Record Office collects and keep ...
and the Somerset Archives.
See also
* Healthcare in Somerset
Healthcare in Somerset, England was the responsibility of three clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) until July 2022. These covered the ceremonial county of Somerset, which comprises the areas governed by Somerset County Council and the unitary ...
* List of hospitals in England
The following is a list of hospitals in England. For NHS trusts, see the list of NHS Trusts.
East Midlands
* Arnold Lodge, Leicestershire
*Babington Hospital – Belper, Derbyshire
*Bassetlaw District General Hospital – Worksop, Nottinghams ...
References
External links
*
RNHRD art collection
– Art at the RUH
{{Authority control
1738 establishments in England
Buildings and structures in Bath, Somerset
Grade II* listed buildings in Bath, Somerset
Hospitals in Somerset
Hospital buildings completed in 1860
NHS hospitals in England
Specialist hospitals in England
Hydropathic hospitals
Hospitals established in the 1730s
Organisations based in Bath, Somerset