Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Caterham Asylum was opened on 9 October 1870. From 1913 the Metropolitan Asylums Board became officially responsible for many mentally defective children (under the Mental Deficiency Act, 1913). Caterham received untrainable boys over the age of 8 when they left the Fountain Mental Hospital, Tooting, as well as other children such as semi-educable ones not up to the standard of Darenth Training Colony. Caterham had a large proportion of older patients and many who had been there a long time who had little chance of recovery. By 1930, the hospital had 2068 beds. After 1930 Caterham Asylum, known as Caterham Mental Hospital since 1920, was run by the London County Council. In 1941 it was renamed Saint Lawrence's Hospital. In 1948 Saint Lawrence's Hospital was taken over by the South West Metropolitan Regional Board who administered the hospital until 1974. Under NHS reorganisation the hospital was administered by the South West Thames Regional Health Authority. Between 1974 and 1982 it was in the Croydon Area Health Authority; in 1982 it became part of the Croydon District Health Authority. In April 1991 Saint Lawrence's Hospital became part of Lifecare NHS Trust.
During the Second World War, 448 beds were set aside at Saint Lawrence's Hospital for use by the Emergency Medical Service, as Caterham Emergency Hospital. These were used for the treatment of both military and civilian casualties. Use of the beds returned to Saint Lawrence's in 1944.