Hospitals

• • Continuity
  • Hospitals continued to run after 1500. There were around 1,100 hospitals by 1500. However, much also changed.
• • Change
  • Whereas previously, hospitals had provided care and hospitality but not treatment, now most people who went to hospital went for treatment,
  • A patient in a 16th century hospital could expect a good diet, a visit from a physician to prescribe a course of treatment, and medication from the hospital’s apothecary.
  • Some hospitals began to specialise in particular diseases, These were known as pest houses, plague houses or poxhouses. They took infectious patients
  • However, the dissolution of the monasteries in England in 1536 dramatically reduced the availability of hospital care,
• How many hospitals were there around the year 1500?

  Approximately 1,100 hospitals
• What was the primary purpose of hospitals before 1500?

  To provide care and hospitality but not treatment
• What change occurred in hospitals after 1500?

  Most people went to hospitals for treatment rather than just care
• What could a patient expect in a 16th century hospital?


  A good diet, a visit from a physician, and medication from the apothecary
• What were hospitals that specialized in particular diseases called?

  Pest houses, plague houses, or poxhouses
• Why were pest houses established?

  To take infectious patients who would not be accepted by ordinary hospitals
• What impact did the dissolution of the monasteries in England in 1536 have on hospitals?

  It dramatically reduced the availability of hospital care
• Who previously led the hospital care before the dissolution of the monasteries?

  Monks and nuns
• Where was hospital care previously based before the dissolution of the monasteries?

  In monasteries and convents