The Brook General Hospital (originally, 1896–1948, the Brook Fever Hospital) was the westernmost of three hospitals simultaneously situated on

Shooter's Hill Shooter's Hill is a district of South East London, England, straddling the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north of Eltham and south of Woolwich. With a height of , it is the highest point in the Borough of ...

in southeast London in the

Royal Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London, England. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolita ...

(the others were the Royal Herbert Hospital and the Memorial Hospital, Woolwich). It closed in 1996, and most of its buildings were subsequently demolished.

History

Designed by architect Thomas Aldwinckle, the Brook Fever Hospital was one of five fever hospitals built during the 1890s by the Metropolitan Asylums Board. Its foundation stone was laid by Lady Galsworthy in July 1894, and the 488-bed hospital opened in 1896. The hospital design separated infectious areas of the Hospital from the non-infectious, and had two entrances separated by a porter's lodge; the east entrance was for infectious patients, the west for non-infectious staff and visitors. Hospital wards were housed in a series of 2-storey pavilions built in terraces and connected by roofed walkways. There were 40 separate blocks covering 21 acres of the 29 acre site. The hospital mainly catered for patients with

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'', a Group A streptococcus (GAS). It most commonly affects children between five and 15 years of age. The signs and symptoms include a sore ...

(352 beds),

enteric fever Enteric fever is a medical term encompassing two types of salmonellosis, which, specifically, are typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever. Enteric fever is a potentially life-threatening acute febrile systemic infection and is diagnosed by isolating ...

and

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacteria, bacterium ''Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild Course (medicine), clinical course, but in some outbreaks, the mortality rate approaches 10%. Signs a ...

(112 beds). During

World War I 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 hospital was 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 ...

for the treatment of military casualties, opening in September 1915 as the Brook War Hospital, with 1000 beds. MAB nurses were replaced by nurses from the Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service, and the War Hospital was equipped with two new operating theatres and an X-ray room. It ceased to be a War Hospital on 5 November 1919, having provided treatment for 414 officers and 30,080 other ranks during the war. In 1930, with the dissolution of the MAB, the hospital came under

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 ...

control, providing 552 beds dealing with scarlet fever and measles. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it joined the Emergency Medical Service, becoming a general hospital for service personnel and civilians, and providing treatment for the many air-raid casualties, including victims of a

V-2 rocket The V2 (), with the technical name ''Aggregat (rocket family), Aggregat-4'' (A4), was the world's first long-range missile guidance, guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the S ...

which hit the nearby Brook Hotel on 11 November 1944. In 1948, it 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 ...

, and was jointly managed with the nearby Memorial Hospital; medical beds were transferred from the Memorial to the Brook, which was eventually renamed the Brook General Hospital. During the 1950s, it also contained a training school for nurses for the Hospital for Sick Children in Great Ormond Street. An Accident and Emergency Department opened in the 1960s, built at the north of the site (it was to this unit that murdered

Stephen Lawrence Stephen Adrian Lawrence (13September 1974 – 22April 1993) was an 18-year-old black British citizen from Plumstead, southeast London, who was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus on Well Hall Road, Eltham, on the ...

was taken and pronounced dead in April 1993). In 1971, June Jolly established a new children's unit at the hospital, fitting the wards and nurses with colourful curtains and aprons, and setting up a "care-by-parent" unit that encouraged parental involvement. In the mid-1990s, A&E services were transferred to the nearby military hospital (built in the 1970s on the site of the Shrapnel Barracks) – now the

Queen Elizabeth Hospital, London Queen Elizabeth Hospital is a hospital in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It was opened in March 2001 and serves patients from the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. The hospital was built to accommodate the ...

(officially opened in March 2001) – and the Brook General Hospital closed. Most of the hospital buildings were subsequently demolished and replaced by housing. The hospital's distinctive water tower remains a landmark, while the entrance lodge, administration block and steward's house have also been preserved. An ambulance station continues to operate from its site on Shooters Hill Road.

References

{{Authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1896 Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Health in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Hospitals established in 1896 Woolwich Defunct hospitals in London Former buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Hospitals disestablished in 1996 1996 disestablishments in England Buildings and structures demolished in 1996 Demolished buildings and structures in London Fever hospitals