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
tramway service and established what was to become the
Bristol Aeroplane Company, released the hospital from debts of over £15,500. This was achieved by holding a fundraising carnival at
Bristol Zoo in 1905 which raised £4,000, together with donations of £7,500 by Sir George and £4,000 by his brother Samuel. 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 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 to create the 2nd Southern General Hospital, a facility for the
Royal Army Medical Corps to treat military casualties. After the war, there were attempts to amalgamate the Royal Infirmary with
Bristol General Hospital 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 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'. The hospital became part of the
National Health Service 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 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. From 1911 until 1924 Cummins was matron of the
Liverpool Royal Infirmary. •
Henrietta Hannath RRC and Bar (1864–1939) was a night sister at the hospital 1895-1898. She became matron of the Royal Hospital, Wolverhampton in 1906. She was also Matron of the 5th Northern General Hospital, Leicester.
Archives The archives of the Bristol Royal Infirmary are held at
Bristol Archives. The School of Nursing, records of surgery and the dispensary, and records relating to the 1991 inquiry into children's heart surgery at the infirmary are also held at Bristol Archives. A substantial quantity of material about the history of the infirmary can be found in papers collected by the surgeon Richard Smith. == Hospital charity ==