The Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) is a National Health Service hospital in Leicester, England. It is located to the south-west of the city centre. It has an accident and emergency department and is managed by of the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.
Leicester Royal Infirmary | |
---|---|
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust | |
Shown in Leicestershire | |
Geography | |
Location | Infirmary Square, Leicester, England, United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 52°37′39″N 1°08′11″W / 52.6274°N 1.1365°W |
Organisation | |
Care system | Public NHS |
Funding | Government hospital |
Type | Teaching |
Affiliated university | Leicester University |
Services | |
Emergency department | Yes, Accident and Emergency |
Beds | 890 |
History | |
Opened | 1771 |
Links | |
Website | www |
Lists | Hospitals in England |
The hospital was founded by Reverend William Watts as the Leicester Infirmary with 40 beds in 1771.[1] Patients were forced to pay a deposit when they went in; if they went home, the money was repaid; if they died their deposit would be spent on burying them.[1] When first opened, there was no running water, but it did have its own brewery, beer from which was used to treat the patients.[1] By 1808, the infirmary had expanded by 20 beds, to a total of 60 beds.[1]
A fever house opened at the infirmary in 1820[2] and nurses were first trained there in 1870.[3] St Luke's Chapel, which benefited from extensive stained glass windows and memorials, was built in 1887.[4][a]
The facility became Leicester Infirmary and Children's Hospital in 1911 and Leicester Royal Infirmary and Children's Hospital in 1914[2] before it joined the National Health Service in 1948.[2]
The Windsor building was opened by the Queen in December 1993[5] and a new accident and emergency department was opened by the Princess Royal in March 2018.[6]
Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba, a junior doctor at the Infirmary, was convicted of manslaughter for her part in the death of a 6-year-old boy from sepsis and received a suspended prison sentence in 2015.[7] Although the General Medical Council ruled in January 2018 that she be struck off the medical register, the Court of Appeal decided in August 2018 that she should be re-instated.[7]
A congenital heart centre opened at the Kensington Building at the Leicester Royal Infirmary in August 2021. This unit, which was transferred from Glenfield Hospital with support from Pick Everard,[8] forms part of the East Midlands Congenital Heart Network.[9]