Origins The hospital's origins begin in 1902, when the Hammersmith
Poor Law Guardians decided to erect a new
workhouse and
infirmary on a site at the north side of Du Cane Road somewhat to the north of
Shepherd's Bush. The land, adjacent to
Wormwood Scrubs Prison, was purchased for £14,500 from the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners. A temporary corrugated iron building was erected on the site in 1902 to provide care for victims of a
smallpox epidemic that had taken place in the winter of 1901–2. The buildings were designed by the firm of
Giles, Gough and Trollope.
First World War In February 1916, during the
First World War, the patients were moved to other establishments and the site was taken over by the
War Office for use as the Military Orthopaedic Hospital, to care for wounded soldiers, largely thanks to the efforts of the noted surgeon
Robert Jones. At that time the Joint War Committee awarded the hospital the sum of £1,000 to begin its work, soon followed in 1918 by a further grant of £10,000. The hospital was also supported by donations from the public. Part of the rehabilitation process involved putting the recovering patients to work in local shops, a policy which does not appear to have been entirely popular among the soldiers themselves.
Inter-war era Later it was renamed the Special Surgical Hospital, and in 1919 became the Ministry of Pensions Hospital. In April 1925 demands by the Hammersmith Guardians for return of their property finally succeeded and the site became Hammersmith Hospital. By 1930, the infirmary could accommodate 300 patients and was taken over by the
London County Council. At the time of transfer to the London County Council the medical Superintendent was AD Morris (acting) MD MRCP RSC MRCS, the Steward was JW Deane and MIss E M Northover (
Royal Red Cross) was
Matron.
Second World War During the
Second World War the hospital amassed expertise on the effects of crush syndrome and
kidney failure as a result of treating air raid victims. The hospital was home to the first medical
linear accelerator in the world at the
MRC's Radiotherapeutic Research Unit, where the first patient was treated in 1953. The Commonwealth Building, which included the postgraduate medical school, the Wellcome Library and some research departments, was opened by
the Queen in May 1966. The Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology (IRDB) was established by Professor
Lord Winston on the site in 2001. In October 2007
Imperial College Healthcare and Imperial College formed the first
academic health science centre from resources that included the academic expertise of Hammersmith Hospital and
St Mary's Hospital. In April 2024, Hammersmith Hospital had announced a pilot six-month trial intended to improve kidney transplant outcomes, by matching white blood cell types with donors. ==Facilities==