Doncaster Royal Infirmary

Doncaster Royal Infirmary is a district general hospital of 800 beds. Each year the hospital treats around 150,000 patients along with 95,500 A&E patients (combined figures for Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Montague Hospital).

Doncaster Royal Infirmary started life as the Doncaster Dispensary on French Gate (now Greyfriars Road) in 1792. The foundation stone of the first purpose-built hospital in Doncaster, St James' Hospital, was laid in 1852. It was demolished in 1963 to make way for town improvements. An infirmary was opened in 1867 as the Doncaster General Infirmary and Dispensary. Within 20 years, the hospital was too small and unsuitable for the town's needs and developments in medicine. A three-day fund-raising bazaar was opened by HRH Princess Christian, and this connection led to Home Office approval for the institution to be known as Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Dispensary. Plans for another new hospital came to fruition in 1930, when the first part on Thorne Road (now the West Ward Block) opened to patients. The East Ward Block opened in 1968, the Women's Hospital in 1969, and the Children's Hospital in 1989.

The infirmary is equipped with a radio studio which broadcasts Trust AM, the Foundation Trust's patient radio.