St George’s Hospital

St George’s Hospital in Tooting has a colourful history dating back more than 200 years. Many of its buildings and wards are named in honour of its most famous patients and physicians.

St George’s first opened its doors as a 60 bed hospital at Hyde Park Corner in 1733 in what was then open countryside.

It was rebuilt in 1820 offering more than 300 beds but within 30 years was struggling to cope with London’s growing population. A new convalescent hospital was built in Wimbledon to cope with the demand while a new medical school, now known as St George’s, University of London, was established on the St George’s hospital site in 1868.

A decision to move St George’s Hospital and St George’s, University of London south coincided with what was then London’s growing suburban population.

The university moved to its current location in Tooting in 1976 followed by the hospital which finally closed its Hyde Park Corner site in 1980.

Today, St George’s is one of London’s major hospitals offering more than 1,300 beds and various centres of excellence including stroke care and cardiology.

Here, we begin looking at some of the lives and events that have shaped one of London’s oldest hospitals.