A Royal infirmary abandoned

In July 1802 a meeting was held at the Swan Inn at Hanley to consider establishing a Medical Dispensary, and a Ward for the reception of Fever Patients.

The first public hospital in North Staffordshire opened in 1804. The inspiration to found a hospital came from local employers including Josiah Wedgwood II. The Dispensary is where patients came for diagnosis, treatment and inoculation against smallpox which had been recently been introduced following the pioneering work of Dr Edward Jenner. Medical science and the processes of life had been greatly advanced by the work, especially on gases, by such notables as Erasmus Darwin, Joseph Priestly, Humphrey Davy and Antoine Lavoisier all known personally to the Wedgwood family.

The Staffordshire Advertiser an influential local newspaper helped raise £800 and was enough to commission Mr Bellhouse of Manchester to draw up the plans The Dispensary opened in April 1804 and the eleven bed House of Recovery, a euphemism for a fever ward, shortly after. Later it was decided to admit general and accident patients so providing an infirmary. Additional building work was undertaken.

The institution continued to operate until 1819 when it had been realised that larger buildings were required and the site was not suitable for expansion. A new infirmary was erected in Etruria close to the Newcastle to Leek road with much better access. The new institution operated until 1869 when it was moved to the healthy and quiet suburb of Hartshill. It became the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary and with the City General Hospital is now the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.

Recently the Royal Infirmary was merged with the nearby Orthopedic Hospital and City General Hospital to form the University Hospital of North Staffordshire. In 2003 the hospital was chosen for a £350-million Private Finance Initiative development, and work on major new facilities is now underway. Most of the wards and Accident & Emergency department will be moved from the Royal Infirmary site across to the new site over the course of 2012, after which the former site will be redeveloped for much-needed housing in this area.

From April 2012 all A&E departments were on the new site, together with new Maternity and Oncology units.