St. Thomas's Hospital

St Thomas's Hospital
King's Health Partners Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
St Thomas' Hospital, located across the River Thames from the Houses of Parliament
Geography
Location	Lambeth, London, England, UK
Organisation
Care system	NHS
Hospital type	Teaching
Affiliated university	King's College London / KCLMS
Services
Emergency department	Yes
Beds	840
Speciality	Dermatology, cardiothoracic surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, children's services (Evelina London Children's Hospital), critical care, clinical pharmacology, cancer services, dentistry, urology, sexual health
History
Founded	circa 1100
Links
Website	www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk

St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, together with Guy's Hospital and King's College Hospital it provides the location of the King's College London School of Medicine.

Originally located in Southwark, but based in Lambeth since 1871, the hospital has provided healthcare freely or under charitable auspices since the 12th century. It is one of London's most famous hospitals, associated with names such as Astley Cooper, William Cheselden, Florence Nightingale, Linda Richards, Edmund Montgomery, Agnes Elizabeth Jones and Sir Harold Ridley. It is a prominent London landmark – largely due to its location on the opposite bank of the River Thames to the Houses of Parliament.

St Thomas' Hospital is accessible from Westminster tube station (a ten-minute walk across Westminster bridge), Waterloo station (tube and national rail, also a ten-minute walk) and Lambeth North tube station (another ten-minute walk).

The hospital was described as ancient in 1215 and was named after St Thomas Becket — which suggests it may have been founded after 1173 when Becket was canonised. This date was when it was relocated from the precinct of St Mary Overie Priory to 'Trenet Lane', then later to St Thomas Street. However, it is possible it was only renamed in 1173 and that it there was an infirmary at the Priory when it was founded at Southwark in 1106.