Hospitals that make history

The NHS was created in 1948. With a continuing commitment to provide care for all, based on clinical need and free at the point of delivery, it remains one of the UK's proudest achievements. It has enabled and supported some of the biggest advances in health and care worldwide.

While the hospitals and people who make up Imperial College Healthcare have an even longer track record of innovation and achievement, they have played an important role in shaping the NHS - and being shaped by the NHS - from the start.

First daily pollen count in the UK begins - set up by Dr AW Frankland at St Mary's to cover London.

1949

NHS prescription charges first introduced.

1952

Prof Francis Crisk, Rosalind Franklin and Dr James Watson discover the structure of DNA.

1953

UK's first carotid endarterectomy to prevent stroke performed by Mr HHG Eastcott at St Mary's Hospital. 

1954

St Mary's Hospital medical student Roger Bannister runs the first ever 4-minute mile.

1954

Sir Richard Doll establishes a clear link between smoking and lung cancer.

1954

Hammersmith Hospital becomes the first hospital in the world to have a medical cyclotron, a particle accelerator with many applications including radiotherapy and advanced imaging. 

1955

Prof Ralph Shackman establishes one of the UK's first artificial kidney units at Hammersmith Hospital and helps poineer the development of dialysis.

1956

The UK's first heart-lung machine, developed by Prof Denis Melrose, is used at Hammersmith Hospital. Prof Melrose also pioneers a technique for safely stopping the heart during surgery.

1957

The NHS launches a programme to vaccinate everyone under the age of 15 against polio and diptheria.

1958

UK's first successful kidney transplant takes place at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

1960

The contraceptive pill is made widely available.

1961

Prof Rodney Porter, working at St Mary's Hospital Medical School, discovers the 4-chain structure of antibody molecules, for which he later receives a Nobel Prize. 

1962

Queen Charlotte's consultant obstetrician Sultan Karim is the first to report on the clinical use of prostaglandins to initiate labour.

1967

CT scans are introduced.

1970

Her Majesty the Queen officially opens the new Charing Cross Hospital on Fulham Palace Road. 

1973

As part of a major NHS reorganisation, our hospitals come under the control of their respective local health authorities.

1974

Prof John Goldman poineers the use of bone marrow transplants to treat chronic myeloid leukaemia at Hammersmith Hospital; over three decades, he continues to develop understanding of the condition and new treatments.

1975

The first case of AIDS in the UK is identified at the Praed Street Clinic at St Mary's Hospital.

1981

His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales was born at the Lindo wing.

1982

Hammersmith Hospital helps pioneer the use of magnetic resonance imaging in medicine.

1982

Charing Cross Hospital establishes one of two centres providing a national screening service for choriocarcinoma, a rare cancer linked to pregnancy.

1983

Charing Cross Hospital establishes one of two centres providing a national screening service for choriocarcinoma, a rare cancer linked to pregnancy.

1983

Queen Charlotte's Hospital and Chelsea Hospital for Women merges with the Hammersmith Hospital to form the Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte's Special Health Authority.

1984

First heart, lung, and liver transplant is carried out at Papworth Hospital.

1987

A-block opens at Hammersmith Hospital.

1988

First heart, lung, and liver transplant is carried out at Papworth Hospital.

1987

The Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Building opens at St Mary's Hospital.

1988

Merger of St Mary's Hospital Medical Schools with Imperial College.

1988

NHS and Community Care Act, introduces the NHS internal market and NHS trusts.

1990

The children's intensive care unit at St Mary's Hospital opens, led by Dr Parviz Habibi.

1992

Prof Dame Averil Mansfield, consultant vascular surgeon at St Mary's Hospital, becomes the UK's first female professor of surgery.

1993

St Mary's NHS Trust and Charing Cross NHS Trust are formed.

1993

Former St Mary's Hospital consultant Prof John Collinge demonstrates that the new disease, variant CJD, is caused by the same prion strain as that causing BSE in cattle.

1996

Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School merges with Imperial College, The National Heart and Lung Institute and the Royal Postgraduate Medical School to form Imperial College School of Medicine.

1997

New HIV test is developed at Hammersmith Hospital.

1998

Creation of NICE, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (now National Institute for Health and Care Excellence).

1999

The Da Vinci robot is first used in the UK for heart surgery by Prof Lord Ara Darzi at St Mary's Hospital.

2001

The new Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital next to Hammersmith Hospital is opened by HRH Princess Anne.

2001

Led by Professor Robert Winston the Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology opens at Hammersmith Hospital.

2002

The first virtual reality opthalmic simulator in the UK is unveiled at the Western Eye Hospital.

2006

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is formed by the merger of St Mary's and Hammersmith Hospitals NHS trusts.

2007

In a world first, high intensity ultrasound is used at Hammersmith Hospital to remove part of a patient's rectal tumour.

2009

With academic partner Imperial College, the Trust becomes one of the UK's first academic health science centres.

2009

The hyper-acute stroke unit opens at Charing Cross Hospital as part of a London-wide programme to consolidate specialist services in order to improve outcomes.

2009

St Mary's Hospital becomes one of four major trauma centres designated for London.

2010

Christina Norton becomes the Trust's first professor of nursing, in a joint appointment with Buck's New University.

2010

Hammersmith Hospital's heart attack centre opens as part of a London-wide programme to consolidate specialist services in order to improve outcomes.

2010

Health and Social Care Act, establishing clinical commissioning groups.

2012

His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge was born at the Lindo wing.

2013

The iKnife, invented at Imperial College, is used in first trials to identify cancerous tissue in real-time during surgery in our hospitals.

2013

NHS Five Year Forward View published, settling out a vision for more integrated care.

2014

The Trust leads one of a 13 genomic medicine centres established by NHS England to support the 100,000 Genome Project.

2014

NHS Five Year Forward View published, settling out a vision for more integrated care.

2014

Imperial Biomedical Research Centre and Imperial Health Charity launch the research fellowship awards to support non-medics at the Trust to undertake research.

2014

In a UK first, focused ultrasound is used at Charing Cross to treat debilitating tremors, avoiding brain surgery.

2016

First Trust-wide electronic patient record system begins to roll out.

2016

Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre expands, to include The Royal Marsden and Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS foundation trusts.

2016

His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Wales was born at the Lindo wing.

2018

Charing Cross Hospital trials a new one-stop service for men with suspected prostate cancer, reducing diagnosis times from six weeks to just one week.

2018

The Covid-19 pandemic begins - Anthony Gordon, critical care consultant at the Trust, leads the UK arm of one of the most influential Covid-19 treatment trials.and the NHS is instrumental in keeping people safe.

2020

Imperial's Biomedical Research Centre was awarded £95 million to develop and improve care for patients, the largest investments awarded to any BRC.

2022

Launch of Paddington Life Sciences, a new life sciences cluster centred around St Mary's Hospital, building on growing partnerships with research, industry and our local community.

2022

Looking ahead

Our hospitals and people continue to lead research, innovation and improvement with local, national and global impact, working in partnership with our patients, partners and communities.