The Royal Free Hospital is a hospital in London, United Kingdom. It is operated by the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust and located in Hampstead, North-West London. The nearest London Underground stop is Belsize Park, on the Northern Line.

History

The hospital was founded in 1828 to - as the name indicates - provide free care to those of little means. The royal charter was given by Queen Victoria in 1837 after a cholera epidemic in which the hospital had extended care to many victims.

The medical school associated with the hospital (part of the Royal Free & University College Medical School since August 1998) was the first to train female doctors in the UK.

The hospital is presently located on Pond Street, where it moved in the 1970s. It also houses part of the medical school and its associated research facilities.

In the news

The controversional link between the MMR vaccine, autism and bowel disease was publicised by a team of researchers at the RFH.

External links

• Royal Free (http://www.royalfree.org.uk/) homepage
• Medical school (http://www.rfc.ucl.ac.uk/)