Cottage hospital

The original concept of a cottage hospital was a small rural hospital having up to 25 beds. One advantage of such a hospital in villages was the familiarity the local physician might have with their patient that may affect their treatment. This local knowledge of the patient would probably have been lost, had they been referred to their nearest county hospital, as was typical for poorer patients.

Some cottage hospitals still exist today. In particular, several can be found within NHS Grampian, a Scottish region of the National Health Service.

History
In 1827 Sir Astley Cooper converted some cottages at Piccotts End, very close to Hemel Hempstead into the first cottage hospital providing free medical services.

The first established cottage hospital was at Cranley in 1859. By 1866, there were 16 in operation, and at least 67 more being established.

Examples

 * Turriff Cottage Hospital
 * Fleming Cottage Hospital
 * Stephen Cottage Hospital