The extraordinary story of King’s College Hospital is full of historic figures and medical innovation.

It is the story of a world-leading institution and, beyond that, the story of thousands of ordinary people building a lasting legacy through individual donations and community support.

Today, the hospital serves a diverse local population from south-east London, and many more patients travel from across the UK for its world-renowned specialist services. Our donors represent an equally diverse community; more than a generation on from the foundation of the NHS and “free healthcare for all”, their charitable support really makes the difference. Click to read more about King’s current work.

The first patients were admitted to King’s College Hospital on April 15th 1840, from one of the poorest, most densely populated areas of London, to a converted workhouse near Lincoln’s Inn Fields. To fund the building alterations and purchase new equipment, the first King’s Appeal raised £10,000, costing 30 guineas for a life governor, and three guineas for an annual subscription.

Financial crisis hit King’s College Hospital in the 1840s. With continued pressure on the wards, Queen Victoria supported an appeal to raise £15,000 to expand the hospital, bestowing the Victoria and Albert Wards. A new wing was opened in 1854, while further funds were raised to rebuild the rest of the hospital. The hospital finally opened in 1861.

In 1877 the hospital saw the worlds first ‘clean’ operation, the successful wiring of a fractured kneecap, performed under strict antiseptic conditions. Professor Joseph Lister, Professor of Clinical Surgery, added greatly to King’s growing reputation as one of the greatest surgical centres of the day.

Following the slum clearances of the late 19th century, a third of King’s patients came from south of the river: Brixton, Camberwell, Peckham and Lambeth, revealing an urgent need for a voluntary hospital in South London. The Hon W.F.D. Smith (later 2nd Viscount Hambleden) gifted land on Denmark Hill, and an Act of Parliament was granted in 1904 to refound King’s College Hospital in the suburbs.

A £300,000 King’s Appeal to fund the cost of the new hospital was launched, with donations sought from individuals and city companies. £1,000 named a bed and £10,000 named a ward. The largest donation of £50,000 was received from an anonymous donor in May 1912. The foundation stone was laid by King Edward VII in 1909, and the new King’s College Hospital was opened on July 26th 1913 by King George V and Queen Mary. 

Almost as soon as it opened as a civilian hospital, King’s College Hospital was requisitioned for military use after the outbreak of war in 1914, treating 75,000 injured soldiers in three years. Throughout this period, the people of the area – and from further afield - donated money to support the hospital on a phenomenal scale. 

Attitudes to the role of philanthropy in supporting healthcare have come full circle. With the founding of the NHS in 1948, politicians wanted to cut charitable support out of their publicly funded system, although as a newly designated London teaching hospital, King’s was allowed to keep its charitable endowments. Today, free access to basic healthcare is now being balanced against a concern about the high costs of providing a modern health service and a growing acceptance of a need for both charitable and private funding. 

Securing King’s long-term future as a centre of excellence will require a balance of government funding, partnerships and charitable support. Find out how your support can make you a part of King’s future by clicking here.