WORKHOUSE INFIRMARIES

Many of the initial facilities in the NHS were former workhouse sites

The new union workhouses established by the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act typically had a small number of rooms designated as sick wards, but the provision of a separate, dedicated infirmary (then the usual word for a hospital) was relatively uncommon at that time.

In the mid-1860s, a campaign to improve the often abysmal medical provision in London’s workhouses resulted in the 1867 Metropolitan Poor Act. The Act aimed to