Guy's Hospital

The York Clinic was built by the generosity of the York Trust out of respect for the work of Dr R. D. Gillespie, Physician in Psychological Medicine to the hospital. It was the first clinic of its type in this country to be erected within the precincts of a general hospital and to form part of a teaching school. The Clinic was built primarily for the purpose of diagnosis, investigation and treatment of any form of functional nervous disorder or mental illness, but excluding all such as require certification. It was to be under the direction of the physician for Psychological Medicine to Guy's Hospital and in consultation with the other physicians and surgeons of the hospital. The other objectives of the Clinic were to provide accommodation for the treatment of patients, to provide the highest possible levels of nursing and medical care and to educate and train medical students and nurses in the principles and practice of treatment of functional nervous disorders and mental illness.

The clinic was designed to provide accommodation for 43 private patients of moderate means. For the first two years after it was opened in April 1944, however, it was largely reserved by the Emergency Medical Services for psychiatric treatment of officers of the armed forces. In 1948 with the establishment of the National Health Service the management of the York Clinic passed into the hands of the Board of Governors of Guy's Hospital. The York Clinic was designated part of Guy's Hospital and a sub-committee was established to administer the Clinic. After its amalgamation into the administration system of Guy's Hospital the York Clinic continued its work as part of the Department for Psychological Medicine. The majority of its patients were now NHS patients but part of the accommodation was set aside for private paying patients.