Part of the front of the Royal London Hospital

Queen Elizabeth II visits the hospital after the 7 July 2005 London bombings

The Royal London Hospital, formerly the London Hospital, is a major teaching hospital in Whitechapel, London. It is part of the Barts and the London NHS Trust, alongside St Bartholomew's Hospital ("Barts"), which is a couple of miles away. The Royal London provides district general hospital services for the City and Tower Hamlets and specialist tertiary care services for patients from across London and elsewhere. It is also the base for the HEMS helicopter ambulance service, operating out of a specially rebuilt roof area. There are 675 Beds at the Royal London Hospital. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1199x924, 377 KB) Royal London Hospital Whitechapel, London Image by Atelier Joly 12th February 2005 Sony Cybershot 3. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1199x924, 377 KB) Royal London Hospital Whitechapel, London Image by Atelier Joly 12th February 2005 Sony Cybershot 3. ... Image File history File links Queen_bombings_visit. ... Image File history File links Queen_bombings_visit. ... The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking. ... Faculty of Medical Sciences of the State University of Campinas, in Campinas, Brazil A medical school, or faculty of medicine, is a tertiary educational institution or part of such an institution that teaches medicine. ... A physician visiting the sick in a hospital. ... Whitechapel is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, United Kingdom. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... National Health Service Trusts (NHS Trusts) provide many services of the United Kingdom National Health Service in England and Wales. ... The King Henry VIII Gate at Barts, which was constructed in 1702. ... Coat of arms The City of London is a small area in Greater London. ... The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames in East London. ... HEMS seen in Ruskin Park, next to Kings College Hospital, during a routine stop to change personnel in 2005. ...

The medical college at the hospital, the first in England and Wales, was founded in 1785. It amalgamated in 1995 with that of Barts, under the aegis of Queen Mary, University of London, to become Barts and The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry. 1785 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL) (until recently Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London and still called that in its charter and occasionally still abbreviated to QMW) is the fourth largest College of the University of London. ... Barts and The London, Queen Marys School of Medicine and Dentistry (also known as BL or often referred to simply as Barts) is the medical school of Queen Mary, University of London (Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London) and has existed in this form since 1995. ...

In March 2005 planning permission was granted for a major redevelopment and expansion of the Royal London. Work on the £1.2 billion project is expected to start in late 2005. After the completion of the project the hospital will have London’s leading trauma and emergency care centre, Europe’s largest renal service and the capital’s second biggest paediatric service. Barts is also undergoing redevelopment and will become a cancer and cardiac centre of excellence.

Joseph Merrick, known as the "Elephant Man", spent the last few years of life at the Royal London and his bones are kept at the hospital. Joseph Carey Merrick. ...

The ghost

In one of the terminal wards [There are no 'terminal' wards at RLH] the ghost of a late Victorian nurse is reputed to bring comfort to certain dying patients. Staff carrying out the night rounds sometimes have their patients say that "the lady in grey has just been to see me" which implies that this person will be dead before the morning. On questioning, the "Lady in grey" is described as being in a typical late Victorian nurses' uniform with the peculiarity that the apparition seems to stop short at knee height. The significant fact is that during post war restortion of the building, the floor level of this ward was raised by two feet (60cms). These patients present an unusual serenity with no sign of previous pain or anxiety.

Museum and Archives

The Royal London has a museum which is located in the crypt of a 19th century church. It reopened to the public in 2002 after extensive refurbishment and is open to the public free of charge. The museum covers the history of the hospital since its foundation in 1740 and the wider history of medicine in the East End. It includes works of art, surgical instruments, medical and nursing equipment, uniforms, medals, documents and books. There is a forensic medicine section which includes original material on Jack the Ripper, Dr Crippen and the Christie murders. There are also displays on Joseph Merrick (the 'Elephant Man') and former Hospital nurse Edith Cavell. The East End of London, known locally as the East End, is an area, with no formal authority or boundaries, that spans a number of administative districts of London in England. ... Forensics or forensic science is the application of science to questions which are of interest to the legal system. ... Jack the Ripper is the pseudonym given to an unidentified serial killer active in the largely impoverished Whitechapel area of London, England in the second half of 1888. ... Taken pre-1910. ... John Reginald Halliday Christie (Halifax, West Yorkshire, April 8, 1898 – London, July 15, 1953) was an English serial killer active in the 1940s and 50s. ... Joseph Carey Merrick. ... Edith Cavell Statue in memory of Edith Cavell, opposite the National Portrait Gallery, London A propaganda image of Edith Cavell Edith Louisa Cavell (December 4, 1865–October 12, 1915) is a World War I heroine. ...

The Royal London's archives contain documents dating back to 1740, including complete patient records since 1883, but the best narrative of the hospital is probably given by W. Somerset Maugham where he describes the institution as a place of misery where the male patients are predominantly cases of alcohol related diseases, the women are mostly cases of malnutrition, and the rest are unwanted pregnancies. W. Somerset Maugham as photographed in 1934 by Carl Van Vechten. ...

External links

• Barts and The London NHS Trust
• Barts and The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry
• HEMS air ambulance service
• Museum and archives