The Royal Eye Hospital was established in 1857 by

John Zachariah Laurence John Zachariah Laurence (1829 – 18 July 1870) was an English ophthalmologist who practiced medicine in London. He was the founder of the South London Ophthalmic Hospital in 1857, later to become known as the Royal Eye Hospital. He was bo ...

and Carsten Holthouse as the South London Ophthalmic Hospital. The hospital originally consisted of two beds in a house in

St George's Circus St George's Circus is a road junction in Southwark, London, England. At its centre, which is now a traffic roundabout, is an historic obelisk, designed by Robert Mylne (1733–1811), in his role as surveyor and architect of Blackfriars Bridge. ...

. An adjoining house was acquired and the enlarged facilities were renamed the Surrey Ophthalmic Hospital in 1860. Three years later it became the Ophthalmic Hospital, with a further name change to the Royal South London Ophthalmic Hospital in 1869. In 1892 following the opening of a new enlarged building, designed by the architects Young and Hall, still in St George's Circus, it finally became known as the Royal Eye Hospital.

After the NHS

In 1948 the hospital was incorporated into the newly founded

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). It was originally allocated to the King's College Hospital Group During the reorganisation of the NHS in 1974, the REH was reallocated to the St Thomas' Hospital Group. After the provision of Ophthalmic medicine had taken in-house by St Thomas' Hospital, such services were stopped at the St George's Circus site. The building was used by local area health authorities before being left derelict and then demolished. The site is now occupied by McLaren House, which is one of

hall of residence A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...

s for students at

London South Bank University London South Bank University (LSBU) is a public university in Elephant and Castle, London. It is based in the London Borough of Southwark, near the South Bank of the River Thames, from which it takes its name. Founded in 1892 as the Borough Po ...

Notable staff

At least two

matrons Matron is the job title of a very senior or the chief nurse in a hospital in several countries, including the United Kingdom, and other Commonwealth countries and former colonies. Etymology The chief nurse, in other words the person in charge ...

trained at

The London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and spe ...

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

under Matron

Eva Luckes Eva Charlotte Ellis Luckes (8 July 1854 – 16 February 1919) was matron of the London Hospital from 1880 to 1919. Early life Eva Charlotte Ellis Luckes (she spelled her name Lückes with the umlaut until World War I)Rogers, Sarah (2022). ...

:Rogers, Sarah (2022). 'A Maker of Matrons'? A study of Eva Lückes's influence on a generation of nurse leaders:1880–1919' (Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield, April 2022) * Margaret Islip (1860–1923), matron from 1892 Islip had worked under Luckes as a sister at

Pendlebury Children's Hospital Pendlebury Children's Hospital was a children's hospital in Pendlebury, Salford, England. It was managed by the Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital has its origins in the Dispensary for Children esta ...

, before she trained under her between 1884 and 1886. * Kate Elizabeth Norman (1864–1945), matron, from 1898 to 1926. Norman trained between 1892 and 1894, and also worked as a sister at

Moorfields Eye Hospital Moorfields Eye Hospital is a specialist National Health Service (NHS) eye hospital in Finsbury in the London Borough of Islington in London, England run by Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Together with the UCL Institute of Ophthal ...

before becoming matron at the Royal Eye Hospital.Kate Elizabeth Norman, RG14/1781, 391; The General Record Office, The England and Wales Census 1911 for Royal Eye Hospital, St Georges Circus, Southwark, London; The National Archives, Kew vailable at: www.ancestry.co.uk, accessed on 14 December 2017/ref>

References

{{reflist Defunct hospitals in London Hospitals established in 1857 1857 establishments in England