St Benedict's Hospital was a long-stay hospital in

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre- Saxon times ...

in South London.

History

The hospital was established in a disused Roman Catholic College building as the Tooting Home for the Aged and Infirm in 1897. 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 ...

it served as the Church Lane Military Hospital (also known as the Tooting Military Hospital), with 712 beds for injured soldiers evacuated from the fighting in France. After the war it became a home for soldiers suffering from

shell-shock Shell shock is a term coined in World War I by the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD was termed). It is a react ...

. It closed in 1923 but was re-opened by the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

in 1930. It admitted three classes of patients: convalescents or those needing rehabilitation; the aged chronic sick; and young adults who were permanently incapable. 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 " ...

in 1948, when it had 200 patients, coming under the control of the Wandsworth Hospital Management Committee, part of the South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. The hospital had 246 beds in 1950. A further 50 beds were opened for fracture cases from St James' Hospital, Balham. In 1974, it came under the control of the Wandsworth, Sutton and East Merton (Teaching)

District Health Authority A district health authority was an administrative territorial entity of the National Health Service in England and Wales introduced by the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973. District health authorities existed in Britain from 1974 t ...

. The hospital was occupied by the staff resisting closure from November 1979 to September 1980. It was latterly used for geriatric care and closed in 1981. The site has been developed for housing, although the original gate pillars and the main entrance portico and clock tower remain. A green plaque was unveiled at the site by Wandsworth Borough Council on 9 March 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Benedicts Hospital Defunct hospitals in London Tooting