GCSE > History > CCEA > GCSE History: Medicine and Health in Britain (1000-Present) Topic Summaries > Renaissance medicine > Renaissance hospitals
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Summary table
  • When King Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church, he closed down monasteries, so care was increasingly funded by charitable donations rather than religious institutions.
  • In the 1700s, hospitals were places where the sick were cured but also often had attached medical schools where doctors received training.
  • Doctors gained official posts in hospitals, developing their reputation and attracting wealthier patients. They saw ordinary patients for free, but fees paid by private patients were their main source of income.
  • Towards the end of the eighteenth century, hospitals added public dispensaries to provide free medicine for the poor.
  • This period also saw the opening of more specialist hospitals such as: Bethlem Hospital (1634) for the mentally ill
    • London Lock Hospital (1746) for venereal diseases
    • Middlesex Maternity Hospital (1745)
    • Foundling Hospital (1741) for orphaned childre

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