Leicester General Hospital (LGH) is a

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

hospital located in the suburb of

Evington Evington is an area of Leicester, and electoral ward of the Leicester district, in the ceremonial county of Leicestershire, England. It used to be a small village centred on Main Street and the Anglican church of St Denys but was close enoug ...

, about three miles east of

Leicester City Centre Leicester City Centre is Leicester's historical commercial, cultural and transport hub and is home to its central business district. Its inner core is roughly delineated by the A594, Leicester's inner ring road, although the various central ca ...

, and is a part of

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. It has approximately 430 beds. The hospital is the largest employer in the area.

History

Poor law infirmary

The 62-acre site between Crown Hills and Evington village was purchased for £6,920 in 1902, with construction of the hospital beginning on 2 April 1903. The building, designed by architects Giles, Gough and Trollope, was completed at a cost of £79,575, and was officially opened as the North Evington Poor Law Infirmary on 28 September 1905 by the Chairman of the Leicester

Board of Guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the po ...

. A large central block contained offices, staff rooms, kitchens, and operating theatres, with separate male and female wards on either side, each with eight 24-bed wards, all connected by a central corridor long, claimed to be the longest in England. There were also separate blocks for "imbeciles, epileptics and short-term lunatics", providing a total of 512 beds. Known locally as the "Palace on the Hill", in 1914 it was renamed North Evington Infirmary.

First World War

On 6 April 1915, during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the Infirmary was taken over by the Army. Under the command of Captain W. M. Holmes,

RAMC The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

, it became the North Evington War Hospital, part of the 5th Northern General Hospital. The 5th NGH was based at the former Leicestershire & Rutland County Asylum (now the

University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...

), but eventually extended to over 60 sites in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, including local and cottage hospitals, as well as private homes. The War Hospital was staffed by both

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

and civilian doctors, locally recruited nurses and VADs, as well as some of the original civilian staff. By August 1916 the number of beds had been increased to 722, and then to 850 by October 1917, and finally to 1,010 in April 1918, by erecting wooden floored marquees in the grounds. On 7 May 1919 the hospital was deemed surplus to military requirements and was gradually closed down, being handed back to the custody of the Board of Guardians on 8 August, having treated 20,456 wounded servicemen.

General hospital

In 1930 the hospital was again renamed becoming the City General Hospital. During the Second World War it had wards for both military and civilian patients. With the creation of the

in 1948 it was renamed Leicester General Hospital, and was part of the Sheffield regional hospital board, which was reorganised as the Trent Regional Health Authority in 1974. In 1950, Leicester General Hospital began to admit emergency cases every third day, and in 1954 opened its first maternity ward. In 1974, "Radio Gwendolen", the LGH's hospital radio service, began broadcasting, and the first

WRVS The Royal Voluntary Service (known as the Women's Voluntary Services (WVS) from 1938 to 1966; Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) from 1966 to 2004 and WRVS from 2004 to 2013) is a voluntary organisation concerned with helping people in need ...

shop, and also a new rehabilitation department offering physiotherapy, hydrotherapy and occupational therapy opened. In 1975, LGH became a

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

, and carried out its first

kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantat ...

on 12 March. On 1 April 1993, the LGH was granted Trust status, and a clinical education centre was opened in 1994. In 2000 Leicester General Hospital,

Glenfield Hospital Glenfield Hospital, formally known as Glenfield General Hospital, is situated near Glenfield, Leicestershire, Glenfield, on the outskirts of Leicester. It is one of England's main hospitals for coronary care and respiratory diseases. It is a ter ...

and the Royal Infirmary merged to form the

. As of 2015 Leicester General Hospital specialised in

renal In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and right in the retrop ...

care,

orthopaedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

research,

urology Urology (from Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:οὖρον, οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of t ...

maternity A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestatio ...

brain injuries Brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating trauma-induced damage. A common c ...

, and treatment for disabled children.

Closing of ITU beds

In July 2018 UHL supported by the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...

released 230 pages of plans, which would see all but one of the twelve top-level intensive care beds transferred to either Glenfield Hospital or the Leicester Royal Infirmary as part of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP). The Leicester Mercury patients panel criticised the proposal both because of the lack of public consultation before presentation and its effect on inhibiting more complex surgery which require ICU beds. In August, a

De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...

report also criticised lack of consultation in the plan which was unchanged since 2015 when it was rushed through apparently because of its urgency.

References

Notes Bibliography *

External links

* * * {{authority control NHS hospitals in England Buildings and structures in Leicester Hospitals in Leicestershire Teaching hospitals in England Hospitals established in 1905 1905 establishments in England