Patients at the London Homoeopathic Hospital, 1889–1923^{[ † ]}

Abstract

Social profiles and clinical characteristics of patients at the London Homoeopathic Hospital in the period 1889–1923 are described, based on documentary research. The main sources are 300 volumes of manuscript case notes from this period, discovered in the LHH basement in 1992. Annual hospital reports from 1899 and 1919 provide further illustrative material. Examination of these documents revealed rich information related to medical diagnoses and outcomes of hospital treatment, length of hospital stay and social characteristics such as occupation. Changes over time were identifiable and this is of special interest as the period covered the First World War and an era of marked change in both traditional and homoeopathic medical practice.

^† Based on a paper presented at the BSA Annual Medical Sociology Conference, York University, Sept. 1995.

^* Senior Lecturer, Roehampton Institute, London;

^** Honorary Research Fellow in General Practice, Imperial College School of Medicine, London. Based on a paper presented at the BSA Annual Medical Sociology Conference, York University, Sept. 1995.