Great Ormond Street Hospital facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Great Ormond Street Hospital |
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| Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust | |
The view along Great Ormond Street
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 Location in London Borough of Camden
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| Geography | |
| Location | Great Ormond Street, London, England |
| Coordinates | 51°31′21″N 0°07′14″W / 51.5225°N 0.1205°W |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | National Health Service |
| Hospital type | Teaching |
| Affiliated university | University College London |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | No |
| Beds | 389 |
| Speciality | Children's hospital |
| History | |
| Founded | 14 February 1852 |
Great Ormond Street Hospital (often called GOSH) is a famous hospital just for children. It's located in London, England. It's a very important part of the National Health Service, which provides healthcare for everyone in the UK.
GOSH is one of the world's leading hospitals for children. It's known for its amazing work in child heart surgery and even heart transplants. In 1962, doctors at GOSH created the first heart and lung machine for kids. They also worked with the famous children's author Roald Dahl to make a better device for children with a condition called hydrocephalus (too much fluid in the brain). GOSH was also the first in the UK to test the rubella vaccine and perform the first bone marrow transplant for a serious immune system problem.
This hospital is also the biggest place in Europe for learning and doing research about children's health. A very special thing happened in 1929: J. M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, gave the copyright of his famous story to the hospital. This means GOSH gets money from Peter Pan to help care for sick children.
Contents
History of Great Ormond Street Hospital
How GOSH Started
Great Ormond Street Hospital opened its doors on February 14, 1852. It was founded by Dr. Charles West, who worked hard to make it happen. This was the first hospital in England specifically for children to stay overnight.
When it first opened, it only had 10 beds. But it quickly grew into one of the best children's hospitals in the world. Important people like Queen Victoria supported it. Even the famous writer Charles Dickens, who was a friend of Dr. West, helped raise money for the hospital.
Joining the National Health Service
In 1948, Great Ormond Street Hospital became part of the National Health Service (NHS). The NHS provides free healthcare for everyone in the UK. For a while, it was harder for the hospital to raise money privately, but they could still accept gifts left in wills.
Many important people have supported GOSH over the years. Audrey Callaghan, whose husband James Callaghan was Prime Minister, helped lead the hospital's board for many years. Diana, Princess of Wales, was the hospital's president from 1989 until she passed away. There's a special plaque at the hospital entrance to remember her contributions.
Modern Developments at GOSH
In 2002, Great Ormond Street Hospital started a big plan to rebuild and update its facilities. This project cost a lot of money and helped make the hospital even better. In July 2012, GOSH was even featured in the exciting opening ceremony of the London Summer Olympics.
St Christopher's Chapel
Inside Great Ormond Street Hospital, there is a beautiful place called St Christopher's Chapel. It's decorated in a special style called Byzantine. The chapel was designed by Edward Middleton Barry and built in 1875. It was built to remember Caroline Barry, who gave a lot of money for the chapel and to support the chaplain.
The chapel is a peaceful place for sick children and their families. Many of its decorations are about childhood. The stained glass windows show scenes from the childhood of Christ and other Bible stories about children. The dome has a picture of a pelican feeding its young with its own blood. This is an old symbol of Christ's sacrifice.
When the old hospital buildings were taken down in the late 1980s, the chapel was carefully moved to its new spot. It was reopened on February 14, 1994, by Diana, Princess of Wales.
The Peter Pan Story and GOSH
In April 1929, J. M. Barrie made a very special gift to Great Ormond Street Hospital. He gave them the copyright to his famous Peter Pan stories. This means that whenever the play is performed, or the book is published, or any new Peter Pan stories are made, the hospital gets money from it. Barrie asked that the amount of money they received from Peter Pan not be shared publicly.
This amazing gift has helped the hospital for many years. The money from Peter Pan helps GOSH continue its important work of caring for sick children. The hospital even asked an author named Geraldine McCaughrean to write a sequel called Peter Pan in Scarlet, which was published in 2006.
In the UK, a special law was passed in 1988 that gave the hospital a lasting right to collect money from Peter Pan performances and publications. This means that even after the original copyright expired, GOSH still benefits from Barrie's wonderful gift.
Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity
The hospital has always needed help from charities since it first opened. One of the main ways it gets support is through the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. While the NHS pays for the hospital's daily running costs, the money raised by the charity helps GOSH stay at the very top of children's healthcare.
The charity tries to raise over £50 million every year. This money helps pay for new buildings, important research, and buying the latest medical equipment. It also helps provide places for families to stay near the hospital and supports the staff.
The charity has received support from many places. For example, it benefited from the "Jeans for Genes" campaign, which encourages people to wear jeans and donate to help children with genetic conditions. All the money from this campaign for GOSH goes to its research partner, the UCL Institute of Child Health.
In 2009, the famous football club Arsenal F.C. chose Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity as their "charity of the season." They raised over £800,000 for a new lung unit at the hospital.
Many musicians have also helped. In 1987, a song called "The Wishing Well" was released to help the hospital. In 2009, finalists from The X Factor sang "You Are Not Alone" to raise money, and it became a number one hit!
Since 2010, Channel 4 has put on a big comedy show called Channel 4's Comedy Gala every year. All the money raised from these shows goes to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. In 2018, a group of celebrities called The Celebs recorded a Christmas song, "Rock With Rudolph", which also helped raise money for GOSH.
Patient Food Quality at GOSH
In 2013, a survey looked at how hospitals were doing in areas like food quality. Great Ormond Street Hospital had one of the lower scores in London for food. The hospital said they were surprised by these results. A spokesperson for the hospital mentioned that they have since improved the food after many taste tests.
In 2023, a new assessment showed that Great Ormond Street Hospital was still ranked among the lower hospitals in the UK for food. This assessment looked at things like the choice of food, if food was available 24 hours a day, meal times, and how easy it was to read the menu. They also tasted the food to check its quality, texture, and temperature.
Notable Staff at GOSH
Many talented people have worked at Great Ormond Street Hospital, helping countless children. Some of them include:
- Sir Lancelot Barrington-Ward, a surgeon
- Mildred Creak, a child psychiatrist
- Dr. Norman Bethune, a Canadian doctor and humanitarian
- Gwendoline Kirby, a matron (head nurse) from 1950
- H. S. Sington, an anaesthetist from 1907 to 1938
- Lewis Spitz, a surgeon
- Catherine Jane Wood, a matron from 1880
Images for kids
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The view along Great Ormond Street
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Main entrance to Great Ormond Street Hospital
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St Christopher's Chapel in Great Ormond Street Hospital.
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Peter Pan statue at Great Ormond Street Hospital by Diarmuid Byron O'Connor
See also
- Healthcare in London
- List of hospitals in England
- Evelina London Children's Hospital, London, UK
- Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital, Paris, France
- Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario
