{{For|the now-demolished hospital on City Road|Royal Chest Hospital}} {{EngvarB|date=May 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}} {{Infobox hospital | name = London Chest Hospital | org_group = [[Barts Health NHS Trust]] | image = London Chest Hospital entrance.JPG | caption = The London Chest Hospital on the day of closure | logo = | location = Bonner Road, [[Bethnal Green]], London, England | coordinates = {{coord|51.5321|N|0.04926|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}} | healthcare = [[National Health Service (England)|National Health Service]] | type = Specialist | speciality = Chest | emergency = | affiliation = | beds = | founded = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1848|3|13}} | closed = {{End date and age|df=yes|2015|4|17}} | website = | other_links = <!-- optional --> | pushpin_map = United Kingdom London Tower Hamlets | pushpin_map_caption = Location within Tower Hamlets }} The '''London Chest Hospital''', located in [[Bethnal Green]] in London, adjacent to [[Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets|Victoria Park]], was a hospital with a national reputation for treatment of [[Heart|cardiac]] and [[Lung|pulmonary]] disease.<ref name="ELA-20140603" /> Since 1999 it had been run by the [[Barts Health NHS Trust]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The London encyclopaedia|last=Ben.|first=Weinreb|date=1 January 2008|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=9781405049245|pages=499|oclc=320248280}}</ref> It closed on 17 April 2015 as part of the creation of the Barts Heart Centre at [[St Bartholomew's Hospital]], by consolidation of services from the London Chest Hospital and [[The Heart Hospital]], part of [[University College Hospital|University College London Hospital]].<ref name="chest">{{cite web|url=https://www.bartshealth.nhs.uk/our-hospitals/the-london-chest-hospital/ |title=The London Chest |date=n.d. |publisher=Barts Health |access-date=23 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428034217/http://www.bartshealth.nhs.uk/our-hospitals/the-london-chest-hospital |archive-date=28 April 2015 |url-status = dead}}</ref>
==History== [[File:City of London Hospital , Victoria Park, London E 2 about 1924.jpg|thumb|left|The City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Heart and Lungs circa 1924]] The London Chest Hospital was founded on 13 March 1848 by a group of men, predominantly Quakers,<ref name=":2"/> who included bankers, merchants and the physician, [[Thomas Bevill Peacock]]. They wished to build a hospital to deal with diseases of the heart and lungs, particularly [[tuberculosis]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/londonchest.html|title=Lost_Hospitals_of_London|website=ezitis.myzen.co.uk|access-date=1 May 2017}}</ref> By June the group, with the patronage of [[Queen Victoria]] and [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]], had raised enough money to open a public [[dispensary]] at 6 Liverpool Street, while the hospital was being built.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Butterworth |first=L |title=The Story of a City Hospital 1948-1925 |publisher=Unwin Brothers |year=1926 |location=London |pages=10, 27–31}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> In 1849 the site of the former [[Bethnal Green mulberry tree#The site|Bishop's Hall]], the Manor House of [[Stepney#Manor and Ancient Parish|Stepney]], was purchased and in 1851 Prince Albert laid the foundation stone.<ref name=":0" /> The architect was [[Frederick Webster Ordish|F. W. Ordish]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hanhart|first=M & N|date=1855–1960|title=City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Chest|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1896-1230-1157|access-date=26 November 2021|website=British Museum|type=print}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The former London Chest Hospital|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1433870|access-date=26 November 2021|website=Historic England|language=en}}</ref> The hospital opened in 1855 at a cost of around £30,000.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/5cf28bae-cc96-4171-af99-078a9788eab7|title=The Discovery Service|last=Archives|first=The National|website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk|language=en-GB|access-date=1 May 2017}}</ref> Notable among the matrons of the hospital was Miss Lillian Grace Dalton (matron 1912–1922).<ref name=":4" /> During the [[World War I|First World War]] she was appointed Matron in the [[Territorial Force Nursing Service]] for the [[King's College Hospital|4th London General Hospital]] and was awarded the [[Royal Red Cross]] for her services in civilian nursing services.<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 June 1916 |title=Court Circular |pages=11 |work=The Times |url=https://www.gale.com/intl/c/the-times-digital-archive |access-date=8 August 2023}}</ref>
Until 1923, it was known as the City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Chest,<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/hospitalrecords/details.asp?id=164|title=The National Archives {{!}} Search the archives {{!}} Hospital Records{{!}} Details|website=www.nationalarchives.gov.uk|access-date=1 May 2017}}</ref> then it was renamed the City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Heart and Lungs, although it was popularly known as the 'Victoria Park Hospital'.<ref name=":3" /> A Pathological Laboratory & Research Institute was opened in 1927 funded by the [[Prudential plc|Prudential Assurance Company]].<ref name=":2" /> In 1937 a new Surgical Wing was added to the hospital and the name was changed to the London Chest Hospital.<ref name=":2" /> The hospital was badly damaged by bombing during the Second World War<ref name=":2" /> and in 1948 it became part of the National Health Service.<ref name=":0" /> In 1994 it became part of the [[Barts Health NHS Trust|Royal Hospitals NHS Trust]] together with the [[Royal London Hospital]] and [[St Bartholomew's Hospital]].<ref name=":0" />
On 17 April 2015<ref name="chest" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bartshealth.nhs.uk/our-hospitals/the-london-chest-hospital/our-history/ |title=The History of the London Chest Hospital |publisher=Barts and the London NHS Trust |accessdate=27 May 2013 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402235335/http://www.bartshealth.nhs.uk/our-hospitals/the-london-chest-hospital/our-history/ |archive-date=2 April 2013 }}</ref> it closed due to a reconfiguration of specialist cardiovascular services in north and east London.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.england.nhs.uk/london/engmt-consult/|title=NHS England London » Engagement and public meetings|last=London|first=NHS England|website=england.nhs.uk|language=en-US|access-date=6 May 2017}}</ref> This enabled the creation of the Barts Heart Centre, one of Europe's largest cardiac centres.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bartshealth.nhs.uk/bartsheartcentre|title=Barts Health – Barts Heart Centre|website=bartshealth.nhs.uk|access-date=6 May 2017}}</ref> Local campaigners opposed the closure which was approved by NHS England in October 2014.<ref name="ELA-20140603">{{cite news| author=Mike Brooke| title=Battle to save London Chest hospital next to Victoria Park from bulldozers| url=http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/battle_to_save_london_chest_hospital_next_to_victoria_park_from_bulldozers_1_3626483|accessdate=22 July 2014 |work=East London Advertiser |date=3 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140722092940/http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/battle_to_save_london_chest_hospital_next_to_victoria_park_from_bulldozers_1_3626483|archive-date=22 July 2014 |url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.england.nhs.uk/london/2014/07/25/centres-of-excellence/ |title=Go ahead announced to revolutionise cancer and heart disease care for millions |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=25 June 2014 |publisher=NHS England London }}</ref> Barts Health announced in April 2015 that 'the hospital is no longer up to the demands of rigorous specialised 21st century medicine and is now closed.'<ref name="chest" /> Services moved from the London Chest Hospital (Barts Health) and [[University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street|The Heart Hospital]] (UCLH) to the Barts Heart Centre at St Bartholomew's Hospital in April and May 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bartshealth.nhs.uk/gps/gp-news/the-london-chest-hospital-services-move/|title=Barts Health – The London Chest Hospital services move|website=bartshealth.nhs.uk|access-date=6 May 2017}}</ref> On 28 August 2015, Barts Health NHS Trust sold the premises to [[Circle Housing Group|Circle Housing]]<ref>{{cite web|title=London Chest Hospital site sold off by Barts NHS Trust to Circle Housing|url=http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/politics/london_chest_hospital_site_sold_off_by_bart_s_nhs_trust_to_circle_housing_1_4229566|website=Hackney Gazette|date=11 September 2015 |publisher=Archant Community Media Ltd|accessdate=16 February 2016}}</ref> with the proceeds reinvested into the Barts Heart Centre.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.londoncommunications.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LCA100057_LDN-February-2016_FINAL_int-1.pdf|title=FORMER LONDON CHEST HOSPITAL|work=LDN London in Short|access-date=6 May 2017|page=25}}{{dead link |date=December 2023}}</ref>
== Notable staff == *[[James Risdon Bennett]], physician at the hospital from 1849 and president of the [[Royal College of Physicians]] 1876–1880<ref name=":4" /> *[[Joseph Lister]], consulting surgeon at the hospital 1896–1905 and pioneer of antiseptic surgery<ref name=":4" /> *[[Thomas Bevill Peacock]], physician at the hospital 1848–1882 and founding member of the [[Pathological Society of London|Pathological Society]]<ref name=":4" /> *Hannah Gearing Hetherington (1850–1922), trained at The [[Westminster Hospital]] and worked at [[Royal London Hospital|The London Hospital]] under [[Eva Luckes]] between 1882 and 1885.<ref name=":5" /><ref>Hannah Gearing Hetherington, Register of Sisters and Nurses; RLHLH/N/4/1, 44; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London</ref> Hetherington was matron 1885–1896.<ref name=":5">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)</ref> *Lillian Grace Dalton (matron 1912–1922).<ref name=":4" />
== Famous patients == [[Fabrice Muamba]], the Congolese-born footballer who played for England's [[Bolton Wanderers]], was taken to the London Chest Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest on the pitch on 17 March 2012. He recovered, but was forced to retire from football.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/17733022|title=Fabrice Muamba: Bolton midfielder discharged from hospital|date=16 April 2012|publisher=BBC|accessdate=22 June 2018}}</ref>
== See also == * [[Healthcare in London]] * [[List of hospitals in England]]
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Hospital buildings completed in 1855]] [[Category:Defunct hospitals in London]] [[Category:Bethnal Green]]