Miller General Hospital

The hospital later known as the Miller General Hospital was founded in 1783 as the Kent Dispensary, and housed initially in a house in the Broadway, Deptford. In 1837, at an Anniversary Dinner presided over by the Duke of Wellington, it was announced that Queen Victoria had agreed to become the patroness of the dispensary, and the name was accordingly changed to the Royal Kent Dispensary. In 1851 the dispensary was given notice to quit the house in Deptford. A site in Greenwich Road was purchased, and the new building was completed in 1855.

In 1883 the Governors of the Charity decided that it would be fitting to celebrate the centenary of the dispensary by the addition of hospital accommodation, which was badly needed in the area. This scheme was amalgamated with that of the Miller Memorial Committee, who had combined on the death of the Rev. Canon Miller, founder of Hospital Sunday, to institute a fitting memorial to him. He had, at the time of his death, been Vicar of Greenwich, and had worked hard in support of the dispensary. The foundation stone was laid in August 1883, and accounts of the occasion published in 'The Times' and 'The Kentish Mercury' can be read in H05/M/Y/02/1, page 171 ff., and in the Minute Book H05/M/A/01/3. The ceremony was followed by a dinner at which a collection was taken which was to form the basis of an endowment fund for the hospital.

The new hospital, built in the grounds of the dispensary, and known as the Miller Memorial Hospital, was opened in 1884. It was the first hospital in Great Britain to have circular wards. These were supposed, among other things, to allow for better ventilation, there being no corners for harbouring stale air and germs. Their cause was championed by Professor John Marshall, President of the Royal College of Surgeons, who had studied the phenomenon abroad. In 1908 the hospital became known as the Miller General Hospital for South East London. In 1912 a surgical block was started, in 1929 the Robinson wing was founded and in the 1930's the outpatient department. In 1928 there were 151 beds, 167 in 1935, 172 in 1937 and 180 in 1947. After 1948 the hospital was taken over by the National Health Service. It was closed at the end of 1974.