When Did Hospitals First Become Established?

Up to the mid 19th century the care of the physically and mentally sick was in the main the responsibility of the family with assistance sometimes from the local parish or charities.  Early types of hospital were run by religious orders from monasteries etc. but these were dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538.

The Poorhouse and later the Workhouse was often the only help offered to the infirm.  It was not until the 18th century that hospitals which specialised in areas like childbirth were set up and then mainly in London. The first specialist hospitals treating parts of the anatomy were established in the early 1800's.

Around the mid 19th century hospitals started taking in private fee paying patients which again put pressure on the poor.  The National Health Service (NHS) was set up in 1948 to provide healthcare that was free to all, although private treatment is becoming increasingly more prominent.