Whipps Cross - our history
West Ham Union Workhouse
Whipps Cross Hospital began life as an annexe for the West Ham Union Workhouse. Forest House, a grand house with a landed estate was purchased by the West Ham Board of Guardians (an early local government body) and used to provide care for sick and infirm workhouse residents from 1894, while a new infirmary was being built. The West Ham Union Infirmary opened in 1903, with 672 beds in 24 wards. That year, 'The Builder' magazine described the infirmary estate as "about forty-four acres of gardens, pleasure grounds and meadow land".
A medical superintendent was in direct charge of patients,supported by a deputy, senior medical officer and five assistant medical officers, and 28 trained and 63 untrained (or 'helper') nurses. In 1904 an operating theatre was opened, and in 1912, 353 operations took place, said to be the highest in any workhouse infirmary.
Whipps Cross War Hospital
A year into the First World War, the Board of Guardians made an application to the Army Council to be allowed to treat wounded servicemen at Forest House Annexe, but the application was rejected. However, in 1917 the War Office provided permission for wounded servicemen to be treated in one block of the infirmary, in conjunction with the annexe. Provision for the war hospital was initially restricted to 50 beds but was soon increased to over 300, reducing the number of beds available for civilian patients. During the remaining course of the war, the hospital cared for over 6,000 wounded servicemen. [RLHWX/P/4/16]
A Social Committee was formed to raise funds to build a recreation hut for use by recovering soldiers. A number of fund-raising events were held for the 'Hut Fund', including fetes, concerts, and a football match organised by Leytonstone FC.In 1917 it changed its name to Whipps Cross Hospital, to coincide with the visit of King George V and Queen Mary.
New developments
By the end of the war, Whipps Cross had begun to take on the role of a general hospital rather than a workhouse infirmary. The first specialists were appointed in 1920, to dermatology, ophthalmology, ENT and genito-urinary surgery. The first major development to the hospital was the 'Sunlight Department' situated in the basement. Treatment was given by means of powerful carbon-arc general light baths and mercury vapour light baths of greater intensity, as well as a variant of the Finsen lamp, for the treatment of lupus vulgaris and chronic arthritis.
In 1930 management of the hospital passed to West Ham Borough Council following the Local Government Act of 1929. During the years 1938-1940 four new ward blocks and an isolation ward were built at the eastern end of the original buildings.
In 1948 Whipps Cross came under the management of the new National Health Service (NHS), administered by the Forest Group Hospital Management Committee. In 1951, an extension to the X-ray and Physiotherapy Departments was opened, alongside new pathology facilities, and a new outpatients department, opened in March 1958, included modernised facilities.
Nurse training school
In 1921 the Central Nursing Council approved Whipps Cross as a nurse training school and examination centre for state registration. By 1924 there were 53 trained and 130 student nurses, and a ground-breaking training school for male nurses was established, only a few years after the first man had joined the nursing register. By the late 1940s, the hospital had employed a male Nurse Tutor, Devi Lal Bissa.
Miss Kate Fogarty was Matron of the hospital from 1944-c1963. Originally from Ireland, she established a strong tradition of Irish nurses training at Whipps Cross, with many recruited directly from schools in Ireland. In 1968, the teaching of nurses from other hospitals in the Forest Group was consolidated at a new Nurses' Teaching Unit; at around this date the nursing school became known as the West Roding School of Nursing.
Whipps Cross University Hospital
The intensive care unit opened in 1968 was one of the first of its kind in the UK, and a new accident and emergency unit was opened in 1972, followed by a new maternity unit the following year.
In 1992 Whipps Cross Hospital became part of one of the first NHS Trusts, Forest Healthcare Trust. Following the development of teaching links with South Bank University, in 2001 it became Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust. Major refurbishment of the accident and emergency department at Whipps Cross was completed ahead of the London 2012 Olympics. In 2012 Whipps Cross, Newham and Barts and The London merged to form Barts Health NHS Trust.
To find out more about the history of our hospitals, you can make an appointment to visit Barts Health NHS Trust Archives.