Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine (Formerly the Royal Homeopathic Hospital)

 Homeopath Edel Bolger O’Hora
Yes, as I was in London on my holidays I brought my now adult children to see a hospital that specialises in giving clinical services to people who want complementary medicines for their health choice. Conditions like cancer care, allergies to muscular skeletal issues, rheumatology to stress management and sleep management are treated there.. They offer access to conventional medicines too. 

Homoeopathy was introduced to Britain by Dr Frederick Hervey Quin in the first half of the nineteenth century. 

Dr Quin had been trained in the homoeopathic system in Germany by Dr Samuel Hahnemann, the 'father of homoeopathy'. Quin developed the first homoeopathic practice in Britain and became extremely successful. His success led him to open a homoeopathic dispensary for the poor, this failed but he turned instead to the idea of a 
hospital specialising in homoeopathic medicine. 

He raised sufficient funds, mainly from his aristocratic patients and supporters, to buy a property at 32 Golden Square for his first hospital. The first patients were admitted on 10 April 1850, 156 in-patients and over 1500 outpatients were treated in the first year. This was the London Homoeopathic hospital. The Hospital later moved to a site on the corner of Great Ormond Street and Queen's Square.
 
At the outbreak of WW1 the Hospital placed 80 beds in the service of the Admiralty and, between 1914 and 1918, some 2,000 wounded sailors were treated.  Many underwent surgery, but homoeopathic remedies were given post-operatively.  As with all other hospitals during the war, many of the staff enlisted, thus creating a shortage of medical and nursing staff.
 
Although the number of registered out-patients had been declining since 1928, plans were made in 1930 to extend the Nurses' Home and to establish a new Observation Ward for children.
 
At the outbreak of WW2 in 1939 the Hospital had 200 beds.  It became an independent unit for treating air-raid casualties.  During the war the buildings suffered severe bomb damage, with the total loss of the Pathology Department and the west wing of the Nurses' Home.  Four members of staff received the George Medal for their gallantry, and one member was awarded the M.B.E.  Despite its damaged buildings, the Hospital continued to treat many patients.
 
After the war the Hospital had the added financial burden of repairing the war damage.  It went into debt and an Appeal was launched to save the institution.
 
In 1948 it was renamed the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital, when George VI conferred it with the title. It became part of the National Health Service, it was also around this time that it gained royal patronage and became the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital. Under the NHS the administration of the hospital was in the hands of the London Homoeopathic Hospital Management Committee under the London (Teaching) Regional Hospital Board. NHS reorganisation in 1974 found the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital part of the North East Thames Regional Health Authority and South Camden (Teaching) District Health Authority. This changed again in 1982 when the hospital came under Bloomsbury District Health Authority.
 
In June 1972 the Hospital suffered a catastrophic blow when 16 members of its staff were killed in an air crash.  They had been travelling to the Congress of the International Homoeopathic League in Brussels when their Trident airliner crashed at Staines, within 3 minutes of take-off from Heathrow airport.  There were no survivors. The Hospital never recovered from this loss and began a sharp decline.
 
In 1974, following a massive reorganisation of the NHS, it lost its independent management committee when it was taken over by the newly formed Camden and Islington Area Health Authority, part of the North East Thames Regional Health Authority (the Hahnemann Hospital in Liverpool, also threatened by these measures, closed in May 1976).
 
In 1992 the Homoeopathic Hospital became part of Parkside NHS Trust.
 
In 1999 the Hospital celebrated its 150th Anniversary, marked with a visit by the Queen. 

On 1st April 2002 the hospital became part of University College London Hospitals NHS Trust (UCLH) as part of its Specialist Hospitals Board, enabling closer collaboration between complementary therapies and conventional medicine.
 
From 2002-2005 the RLHH underwent a comprehensive £20million redevelopment transforming it into a state of the art treatment and research facility, while this work was in progress the hospital's clinical services were relocated to Greenwell Street adjacent to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. 
 
The renovation was planned with consultation from patients and clinicians to provide a peaceful healing environment, as well as facilities for group clinics, education and an information centre. The renovated building was re-opened in June 2005. 
 
In 2007 the senior clinician and management staff unanimously decided that it was the right time to rename the hospital to the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine in order to more accurately reflect the nature of its work.
 
In 2021 it is good to see that Homeopathy has a place in today’s health care choices. Private clients and funding are keeping this gentle and effective medicine discipline in existence. In that way the ancestors and ourselves have a lot in common. Dr Frederick Hervey Quin’s vision of helping the poor achieve and keep health is as valid today as it was then when he started the campaign to create this hospital. I certainly, as a homeopath in 2021,  have a vision for clients to maintain and improve their health  in a modern world with Homeopathy. I have moved on line with consultations and groups bringing the service to the people.
 
A vision for me also is that the health insurance companies look East and to South America at the green medicines that are successful in the hospitals. Homeopathy is an ecological health choice. So how does this look? Well, Dr Silvestri explains it well in Hpathy November 2019. As he says  ‘It is now recognized… in the USA… that all chronic illnesses originate from over-stressing our nervous system. Using an ecological perspective such as homeopathy that emphasizes context over content can make us less stressful, more comfortable, and apt to flow with the natural patterns that our remedies possess.’
 
Reference:            
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_London_Hospital_for_Integrated_Medicine
https://search.lma.gov.uk/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/LMA_OPAC/web_detail/REFD+H60?SESSIONSEARCH
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