Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine

The Royal Free Hospital was founded in 1828 to provide free hospital care to those who could not afford treatment. The title 'Royal' was granted by Queen Victoria in 1837 in recognition of the hospital's work with cholera victims.

For many years the Royal Free was the only hospital in London to offer facilities for clinical instruction to women. This began a close association with the London School of Medicine for Women, later renamed the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine.

The Royal Free moved to its present site in the mid 1970s, bringing together the old Royal Free Hospital in Gray's Inn Road with the Lawn Road, New End and Hampstead General hospitals.

In April 1991 the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust became one of the first trusts established under the provisions of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990.

Source: http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk