Health Care in Birmingham: The Birmingham Teaching Hospitals, 1779-1939

Unlike many other works of medical history which outline the history of a single institution, this book compares and contrasts a wide range of hospitals - the nine hospitals which together comprised the original teaching hospitals associated with the University of Birmingham Medical School - and sets them in the context of broader health care provision in one of Britain's most populous cities. As such, the book provides a history of British medicine and health care provision over nearly two centuries, providing lessons which are applicable to many other provincial hospital services. The book begins with the foundation of the General Hospital in 1779, the town's first general hospital, and charts the administration and development of an eighteenth-century voluntary hospital. Subsequent chapters chart the emergence and evolution of other institutions and their respective medical specialties, including paediatrics, obstetrics and venereology, from the early nineteenth century to the eve of the Second World War. While not home to the first general hospitals, Birmingham supported some of the first specialist hospitals, including the earliest orthopaedic charity. The emergence of this impressive medical service transformed both the way in which local people experienced health and illness, and the way in which students learned about sickness and health. Moreover, these hospitals represent one of the greatest successes of Birmingham's local voluntary tradition. Jonathan Reinarz is Director of the Centre for the History of Medicine at the University of Birmingham.