New Cross Hospital was a hospital in the

New Cross New Cross is an area in south-east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the London_postal_district#List_of_London_postal_districts, SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, London, St Jo ...

district of south east London, open from 1877 until around 1991.

History

The hospital was opened by the

Metropolitan Asylums Board The Metropolitan Asylums Board (MAB) was established under Poor Law legislation to deal with London's sick and poor. It was established by the Metropolitan Poor Act 1867 ( 30 & 31 Vict. c. 6) and dissolved in 1930, when its functions were transfer ...

(MAB) on 17 March 1877 as Deptford Hospital. Its purpose at that time was as a

fever hospital A fever hospital or isolation hospital is a hospital for infectious diseases such as Scarlet fever, Tuberculosis, Lassa fever and Smallpox. Their purpose is to treat affected people while isolation (health care), isolating them from the genera ...

treating patients suffering from

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

, of which there was an epidemic at the time. It was one five fever hospitals – the others were in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

(site now occupied by the

Royal Free Hospital The Royal Free Hospital (also known as the Royal Free) is a major teaching hospital in the Hampstead area of the London Borough of Camden. The hospital is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs services at Barnet Ho ...

Homerton Homerton ( ) is an area in London, England, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is bordered to the west by Hackney Central, to the north by Lower Clapton, in the east by Hackney Wick, Leyton and by South Hackney to the south. In 2019, it had ...

(site of

Homerton University Hospital Homerton University Hospital is a teaching hospital in Homerton in the London Borough of Hackney. It is managed by Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital has its origins in the Homerton Fever Hospital, which opened at ...

) and

Stockwell Stockwell is a district located in South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated south of Charing Cross. History The name Stockwell is likely to have originated from a local well, with "stoc" being Old Englis ...

(now

Lambeth Hospital Lambeth Hospital is a mental health facility in Landor Road, South London. It was previously known as the "Landor Road hospital" and is now operated by the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and is affiliated with King's College Lond ...

) – forming a ring around central London, and shared the same architects as the Fulham hospital (J Walker and W Crickman). In 1885, its name was changed to the South Eastern Fever Hospital. The hospital was expanded between 1902 and 1906. In 1908, the facilities included 488 beds and its site covered an area of . It was transferred from the MAB to control by

London County Council The 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 ...

in 1930 and continued to be a fever hospital until 1941. It was given the name New Cross General Hospital around 1949, soon after the creation of the

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 ...

(NHS), and after the NHS closed it for a time it re-opened in 1952 as a satellite for

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital founded by philanthropist Thomas Guy in 1721, located 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 Kin ...

. By 1982, it comprised 269 beds and was mainly used by geriatric patients. It closed as a hospital around 1991, but southern parts of the site to the north of Wardalls Grove remained in NHS use until at least 2004.

Notable people

Notable people connected with the hospital included: *

James Niven James Niven (12 August 1851 – 30 September 1925) was a Scottish physician, perhaps best known for his work during the Spanish Flu outbreak in 1918 as Manchester's Medical Officer of Health. He held that position for 28 years (1894–1922), un ...

, physician at the hospital

References

Notes Citations {{reflist Hospitals established in 1877 1877 establishments in England Hospitals disestablished in 1991 1991 disestablishments in England New Cross Defunct hospitals in London Fever hospitals