Chelsea and Westminster Hospital is a 430-bed teaching hospital located in Chelsea, London. Although the hospital has been at its present site since only 1993, the hospital has a rich history in that it serves as the new site for the

Westminster Hospital Westminster Hospital was a hospital in London, England, founded in 1719. In 1834 a medical school attached to the hospital was formally founded. In 1939 a newly built hospital and medical school opened in Horseferry Road, Westminster. In 1994 th ...

. It is operated by

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust operates Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital (since 1 September 2015). The Foundation Trust was created on 1 October 2006. The Trust's chief executive is ...

, and has close ties with

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

. Many of the hospital's employees hold research contracts with

, and the hospital plays an integral role in teaching students at

History

The first hospital on the site was conceived in 1876 and officially opened as the St George's Union Infirmary in February 1878. This facility became St Stephen's Hospital in 1925 and, after it had 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, continued in service until it closed in 1989. Part of the old hospital survives as an HIV unit known as "St Stephen's Centre". The Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, which was designed by the architects

Sheppard Robson Sheppard Robson (previously Richard Sheppard, Robson & Partners ) is a British architecture firm, founded in 1938 by Sir Richard Herbert Sheppard, with offices in London, Manchester, and Glasgow]. It was particularly influential in the 1950s– ...

, was built on the St Stephen's Hospital site and was officially opened by Elizabeth II, the Queen in May 1993. It brought together staff, services and equipment from five other hospitals in London: * St Stephen's Hospital (1876–1989), the original hospital on the site *

St Mary Abbots Hospital St Mary Abbots Hospital was a hospital that operated from 1871 to 1992 at a site on Marloes Road in Kensington, London. History The hospital building, which was designed by Alfred Williams as a workhouse infirmary and built by John T. Chappell, ...

(1871–1992), in Marloes Road * West London Hospital (1856–1993), in Hammersmith Road, known for its maternity services in the 1970s *

(1719–1992), in Horseferry Road, and its medical school in Page Street. *

Westminster Children's Hospital The Westminster Children's Hospital was a health facility in Westminster, London. History The hospital had its origins in the St Francis Hospital for Infants which was founded by Dr Ralph Vincent in a house in Denning Road, Hampstead in 1903. The ...

(1903–1995), on Vincent Square The hospital displays many treasures from the predecessor hospitals. Some of these are in the first floor hospital chapel, including a 16th-century painting by Veronese from the Westminster Hospital and stained glass windows from St Mary Abbots Hospital and the Westminster Children's Hospital.

Services

Chelsea and Westminster maintains a range of medical and surgical acute services:

Hand trauma

The hospital provides a number of services which include a specialist

hand surgery Hand surgery deals with both surgical and non-surgical treatment of conditions and problems that may take place in the hand or upper extremity (commonly from the tip of the hand to the shoulder)Hand surgery is extremely difficult, ranking last ...

/management unit sometimes known as HMU.

HIV / GUM

The hospital's HIV/ GUM Clinical Directorate was established in April 1991, and is today the largest specialist HIV unit in Europe, and enjoys a worldwide reputation as a centre of excellence in both the care of HIV-positive patients and a wide range of associated clinical research. The St Stephen's Centre is also home to the core laboratory of the

International AIDS Vaccine Initiative The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) is a global not-for-profit, public-private partnership working to accelerate the development of vaccines to prevent HIV infection and AIDS. IAVI researches and develops vaccine candidates, conducts ...

(IAVI).

Radio Chelsea and Westminster

Radio Chelsea and Westminster is the hospital's own hospital radio station, available for; patients, staff and the local community. It was launched in 1977 to provide music and escapism for patients. Patients are able to listen to the hospital radio on Channel 6 on their hospedia bedside unit, or online at www.radiocw.org. The radio station has featured in a number of locations around the hospital it is currently on the second floor of the hospital between lift banks C and D.

GB News GB News is a British free-to-air television and radio news channel. The channel is available on Freeview, Freesat, Sky, YouView, Virgin Media and via the internet. Since 4 January 2022, an audio simulcast of the station is available on DAB+ ...

presenter Nana Akua used to work for the station.

Education

In 1984,

Westminster Hospital Medical School The Westminster Hospital Medical School was formally founded in 1834 by George Guthrie, an ex-military surgeon – although students had been taken on at Westminster Hospital almost from the hospital's foundation in 1719 (the traditional name a ...

merged with the

Charing Cross Hospital Medical School Charing Cross Hospital Medical School (CXHMS) is the oldest of the constituent medical schools of Imperial College School of Medicine. Charing Cross remains a hospital on the forefront of medicine; in recent times pioneering the clinical use of ...

to form

Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School existed as a legal entity for 13 years, as the midpoint of a series of mergers which strategically consolidated the many small medical schools in west London into one large institution under the aegis ...

. This was part of a series of mergers of London medical schools in the early 1980s, foreshadowing a larger series in the late 1990s, which brought all the institutes together into five large schools. In 1997, as part of the second wave, CXWMS merged with

Imperial College Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, London (and its medical department, St Mary's Hospital Medical School), the National Heart and Lung Institute, and the

Royal Postgraduate Medical School The Royal Postgraduate Medical School (RPMS) was an independent medical school, based primarily at Hammersmith Hospital in west London. In 1988, the school merged with the Institute of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and in 1997 became part of Imperial ...

, to form

Imperial College School of Medicine Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) is the undergraduate medical school of Imperial College London in England, and one of the United Hospitals. It is part of the college's Faculty of Medicine and was formed by the merger of several hist ...

. Chelsea and Westminster Hospital maintains strong ties with Imperial College School of Medicine and is a teaching hospital for students undergoing clinical attachments in various specialties.

Notable births

Notable births include: *

Dakota Blue Richards Dakota Blue Richards (born 11 April 1994) is an English actress. Her film debut at the age of 13 was in '' The Golden Compass'', as the lead character Lyra Belacqua. Other lead roles include the wayward teenager April in ''Dustbin Baby'' and M ...

, English actress * Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi (born 2021), daughter of Princess Beatrice of York and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi

References

External links

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital

Chelsea and Westminster Health Charity – owner and curator of the visual art, installation art and sculpture displayed at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital

NHS Care Records Service

Cranio-Orbito-Palpebral service, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital

International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)

St Stephen's AIDS Trust Clinical Trials Unit

You Choose – Chelsea and Westminster HIV information site for gay men
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chelsea And Westminster Hospital 1993 establishments in England 1993 in London Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Chelsea, London Hospital buildings completed in 1993 Hospitals established in 1993 NHS hospitals in London Teaching hospitals in London