The Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) is a large

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 ...

in the centre of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, England. It has links with the nearby

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

and the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a Public university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...

, also in Bristol. The BRI is one of nine hospitals operated by the University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust. It is on the same site as the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre, and Bristol Heart Institute (BHI). The Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre has 49 beds and the Bristol Heart Institute has 107, which are not included in the main hospital's total.

History

Early history

The Bristol Royal Infirmary was founded by public subscription in 1735, making it one of the oldest infirmaries in the United Kingdom. The infirmary was opened on Maudlin Lane (now Lower Maudlin Street) in December 1737, taking 17 male and 17 female patients. In 1904, Sir George White, who gave Bristol its first electric

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

way service and established what was to become the

Bristol Aeroplane Company The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was both one of the first and one of the most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aircraft engines. Notable ...

, released the hospital from debts of over £15,500. This was achieved by holding a fundraising carnival at

Bristol Zoo Bristol Zoo was a zoo in the city of Bristol in South West England. The zoo's stated mission was to "maintain and defend" biodiversity through breeding endangered species, conserving threatened species and habitats and promoting a wider underst ...

in 1905 which raised £4,000, together with donations of £7,500 by Sir George and £4,000 by his brother Samuel.Munro Smith, p. 416 George White was appointed president of the hospital in 1906. Recognising the need to modernise the hospital building to keep up with innovations in science and medicine, he established a £50,000 fund for a new hospital building. This led to the construction of the

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

Memorial Wing which was designed by Charles Holden and completed in 1912. Annual income came from subscribers, whose number increased from 1,272 in 1906 to 3,771 in 1913. During the First World War, the Memorial Wing at Bristol Royal Infirmary together with Southmead Hospital were requisitioned by the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

to create the 2nd Southern General Hospital, a facility for the

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 ...

to treat military casualties. After the war, there were attempts to amalgamate the Royal Infirmary with

Bristol General Hospital Bristol General Hospital (sometimes referred to as BGH or Bristol General) was a healthcare facility in Guinea Street, Harbourside, Bristol, in the south west of England. It opened in 1832 and closed in 2012. The BGH was managed by the Universi ...

to allow greater division of labour and the provision of specialist services. In 1920, Henry Herbert Wills sought to promote this by depositing £105,070 in a trust to be handed over if the hospitals could be combined. This proved impossible because of a century-long rivalry between the two, exacerbated by the Royal Infirmary being supported primarily by

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Tories, while the General Hospital was supported by nonconformist Whigs. The joke in Bristol was that 'patients going to the Infirmary would receive a sovereign remedy, but those at the Hospital a radical cure'.

Post-war development

Geoffrey Tovey, serologist and founder of the UK Transplant Service, worked at the hospital shortly before the Second World War. The hospital became part 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 ...

in 1948 and was greatly extended in the 1960s. The Queen's Building extension opened in 1972; the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre, behind the main hospital building, opened in 1971; and the adjacent Bristol Heart Institute opened in 2009.

Bristol heart scandal

The Bristol heart scandal, which resulted in the deaths of a number of babies and young children during heart surgery (1984–1995) led to the Kennedy Report into paediatric cardiac surgical services at the hospital. The report, published in 2001, led to greater emphasis on clinical governance within the NHS and the publication of the performance ratings of individual heart surgeons.

Redevelopment

In April 2011, the trust board approved an £80 million redevelopment of the hospital, consisting of a new ward block on Terrell Street behind the hospital, the refurbishment of the Queen's building, the conversion of wards in the King Edward building and the decommissioning of the Old Building. In September 2011, it was announced that Laing O'Rourke had signed a contract to redevelop the hospital and build an extension to the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. The redevelopment project included purpose-built medical and elderly care admissions units, a state-of-the-art intensive care unit, a surgical floor and a helipad on the roof of the Queen's Building. The redevelopment also included building a new Welcome Centre at the main entrance of the hospital and a new facade for the Queen's building, once voted one of the ugliest buildings in Bristol, designed by the Spanish firm Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos. Construction began on the new hospital ward block in March 2011, with the demolition of buildings on Terrell Street. The newly completed Welcome Centre was opened to the public in December 2013. In May 2014, the helipad became fully operational and started receiving air ambulances from Bristol and the surrounding area, speeding up transfer times for patients who were being airlifted to the hospital. The HELP Appeal supported the construction of the helipad with a grant of £500,000.

Notable staff

* Anna Ballie RRC (18641958).

Matron 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 ...

18981923, also Principal Matron Territorial Force Nursing Service 2nd Southern General Hospital (BRI and Southmead Hospitals), 19141919. Baillie trained at The London Hospital under Eva Luckes in 1888. Before Baillie was appointed to Bristol she was matron of the Hospital of St Cross, Rugby. She became one of the first supporters and promoters of the College of Nursing (now RCN). Baillie was noted as an 'inspiring manager' who established a well respected training school for nurses. * Emily 'Margaret' Cummins, RRC (1866–1934). In 1898 she was recommended as for a sister's position under Anna Baillie. Shortly after moving to Bristol, Cummins was appointed Assistant Matron. Whilst there she undertook a session as a Lecturer on Nursing for the Merchants Venturers Technical College, Bristol. In 1903 she was appointed as matron of Cumberland Infirmary in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

. From 1911 until 1924 Cummins was matron of the

Liverpool Royal Infirmary The Liverpool Royal Infirmary was a hospital in Pembroke Place in Liverpool, England. The building is now used by the University of Liverpool. History The infirmary has its origins in a small building on Shaw's Brow which was opened by the 11th ...

Hospital charity

Bristol & Weston Hospitals Charity (BWHC) raises money for all ten hospitals in the trust, to provide equipment, ward refurbishments and additional extras. It was formerly known as Above & Beyond and has existed since 1974. In 2013, the charity's Golden Gift Appeal raised £6million. For the year to March 2022, the charity's income was £2.64million.

In popular culture

Holby City Hospital, in the fictional city of Holby, which appears in the BBC medical dramas '' Casualty'' and ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...

'', is based on the BRI.

References

Sources

* *Perry, C. Bruce (1984)
''The Voluntary Medical Institutions of Bristol''
(Bristol Historical Association pamphlets, no. 56), 20 pp.

External links

* {{authority control University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust NHS hospitals in England Teaching hospitals in England Hospitals in Bristol 1735 establishments in England Hospitals established in the 1730s Buildings by Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos Bristol Royal Infirmary King Edward VII Memorial Wing Physicians of the Bristol Royal Infirmary