Endell Street Military Hospital
| Endell Street Military Hospital | |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Location | Endell Street, London, England |
| Organisation | |
| Funding | Public hospital |
| Hospital type | Military |
| Services | |
| Beds | 573 |
| History | |
| Founded | 1915 |
| Closed | 1919 |
Endell Street Military Hospital was a First World War military hospital located on Endell Street in Covent Garden, central London.
This was the only hospital entirely staffed by suffragists (women who supported the introduction of votes for women).
The hospital was established during the First World War in May 1915 by Doctors Flora Murray and Louisa Garrett Anderson. Both women were former members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), a militant organisation that campaigned for women's suffrage in the early twentieth century. The hospital was run under the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) of the British Army.
In 1917, Murray and Anderson each received the CBE for their work in the hospital.
In October 1919, Endell Street received orders to evacuate and close the hospital. Endell Street Military Hospital closed its door in December 1919.
The hospital was constructed in the former St Giles Union Workhouse located on Endell Street in Covent Garden, Central London. The empty workhouse had room for a larger hospital to operate. A majority of the hospital equipment came from a military hospital in Wimereux, France following its closure in January 1915. Murray and Anderson previously headed this hospital which was shut down because of a lack of patients as well as a destination change for injured soldiers from France to England.
Endell Street Hospital had 573 beds, allowing for some 26,000 patients to be cared for during the five years the hospital was active. The women doctors performed upwards of 7,000 operations during that time.
The hospital was located in close proximity to railway stations, allowing a great influx of patients when ambulance convoys arrived. Often each convoy was transporting 30 to 50 injured soldiers, some of which required immediate surgery. These soldiers were taken directly to the operating theatre. The doctors were able to carry out as many as 20 operations a day, many of which were late at night when the convoys arrived.
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