Manchester Infirmary

Manchester Royal Infirmary
Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
The MRI's main building in 1957
Geography
Location	Chorlton on Medlock, Manchester, North West England, United Kingdom, England
Organisation
Care system	NHS
Hospital type	Teaching
Affiliated university	Manchester Medical School
Services
Emergency department	Yes Level 1 Trauma Center
Beds	750 or more
History
Founded	1752
Links
Website	http://www.cmft.nhs.uk/
Lists	Hospitals in England

The Manchester Royal Infirmary is a hospital in Manchester, England, founded by Charles White in 1752. It is now part of Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, sharing buildings and facilities with several other hospitals.

The Infirmary itself specialises in cardiology, in renal medicine and surgery, and in kidney and pancreas transplants. Its A&E department deals with around 145,000 patients every year. The transplant team carried out 317 transplants in 2015, the most of any centre in the UK.

The first premises was a house in Garden Street, off Withy Grove, Manchester, which were opened on Monday 27 July 1752, financed by subscriptions. Government of the institution was in the hands of the trustees. Any subscriber who paid 2 guineas a year was a trustee. Those who donated 20 guineas became a trustee for life. The trustees appointed physicians and surgeons by voting. In 1835 900 trustees assembled to vote in the Town Hall. Joseph Jordan was elected, having secured 466 votes. He had spent £690, mostly on hiring vehicles to bring his supporters in to vote. By 1855 the subscription was 3 guineas, or a donation of 30 guineas.

There were initially three physicians and three surgeons, Charles White being one. White co-founded the Infirmary with local industrialist Joseph Bancroft in 1752, and was an honorary surgeon there until 1790. One patient, John Boardman, suffering from Scrofula was treated. The first inpatient was admitted on 3 August, Benjamin Dooley, aged 12, suffering from "sordid ulcers in the leg" In 1753 it was decided to purchase surgical instruments and to establish a dispensary.

It was decided to build a new hospital in 1753 on land leased from Sir Oswald Mosley, Lord of the Manor, who granted a 999 year lease at an annual rent of £6. The site had previously been called the Daub Holes: these pits, 615 feet long, had filled with water and they were replaced by a fine ornamental pond.

The new premises had space for eighty beds and were on Lever's Row in the area now known as Piccadilly Gardens (the gardens were only created after the demolition of the former MRI buildings in 1914). The new building was opened on 9 June 1755. It had three stories and cellars. The first student, John Daniel, was taken on as an apprentice to the apothecary. By 1756 it was already necessary to add a new wing to the north to house a laundry and wash house. In 1764 there were 85 inpatients. Patients sometimes shared a bed.