Hammersmith Hospital x Hammersmith Institution x Military Orthopaedic Hospital, Shepherd's Bush

Hammersmith Hospital x Hammersmith Institution x Military Orthopaedic Hospital, Shepherd's Bush

From 1845 to 1899 the parish of Hammersmith formed part of Fulham Poor Law Union. In 1899 a separate Board of Guardians was constituted for Hammersmith, which started to plan the construction of their own workhouse and infirmary on a site bordering Wormwood Scrubs Prison. Both opened in 1905. The infirmary was situated on the southern part of the site fronting on to Du Cane Road. The workhouse was built behind the infirmary to the north. In 1916 both the hospital and the workhouse (known as Hammersmith Institution) were taken over by the War Office for the treatment of military casualties. From February 1916 the combined hospital and institution was known as the Military Orthopaedic Hospital, Shepherd's Bush. It had beds for 800 patients and another 200 were billeted locally. In 1919 the hospital was transferred to the Ministry of Pensions, who ran it until April 1925 when it was returned to Hammersmith Board of Guardians.

Under the terms of the 1929 Local Government Act, Hammersmith Hospital and Institution were in 1930 taken over by the London County Council, who progressively merged the hospital and institution and appropriated them both for the treatment of the sick between 1930 and 1935, thus removing them from the Poor Law. With the support of the London County Council, the Royal Postgraduate Medical School opened at Hammersmith Hospital in 1935 as a School of the University of London.

In 1948 Hammersmith Hospital became part of the National Health Service as a teaching hospital with its own Board of Governors, who were also responsible for Saint Mark's Hospital and the West London Hospital. On the reorganisation of the NHS in 1974 it became part of the North Hammersmith Health District (Teaching) of Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Area Health Authority. In 1982 Hammersmith Hospital was constituted a Special Health Authority and in 1984 it combined with Queen Charlotte's Hospital to become Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte's Special Health Authority. In 1990 the Hospital became part of the Hammersmith Hospital NHS Trust.