- Article
- Article
London, city of lost hospitals
Come on the trail of hundreds of ghost hospitals, whose remnants hold clues to medical treatments of the past.
- In pictures
- In pictures
A history of art in hospitals
Art historian Anne Wallentine examines art in hospital settings – from its Christian devotional origins to its healing role in modern healthcare buildings.
- Article
- Article
How hospital care fails disabled bodies
Hospitals aim to make sick people well. But if the sick person is also disabled, the unbending nature of monolithic hospital systems can easily worsen the situation. Here Jamie Hale writes from painful personal experience.
- Article
- Article
A reflection on art in a mental hospital
Artist Beth Hopkins explains how she used her experience of researching the Adamson Collection to create an embroidered wall hanging.
- Photo story
- Photo story
From chef’s whites to medical scrubs
Meet the machinists who have rapidly switched from making clothing for hospitality staff to uniforms for hospital workers.
- Article
- Article
Daniel Regan on using photography to manage emotions
Artist Daniel Regan manages his emotions and stays grounded through photography, allowing him to engage in the world around him.
- Article
- Article
Picturing mental health
Ron Hampshire created artworks while resident at Netherne psychiatric hospital. What can we learn from them?
- Article
- Article
Hands-on healthcare
A young hospital volunteer feared her contribution was a long way from the serious business of real healthcare. But time spent painting patients’ nails proved to be a valuable contribution to life on the ward.
- In pictures
- In pictures
Death around the world in ten objects
Death is many things to many cultures: violent, holy, frightening, calm, disgusting... or just a gateway to another life.
- Article
- Article
Journeying home
A serious health scare was the catalyst to Chris beginning the process of understanding his experiences more clearly, and using that new insight to help other intersex people.
- In pictures
- In pictures
Florence Nightingale, Victorian design and the treatment of Covid-19
Discover how the design of Britain’s Nightingale hospitals, set up during the first national lockdown, is based closely on Florence Nightingale’s pioneering ideas for the most effective hospital layout.
- Article
- Article
The problem of the punctured heart
During World War II a young American surgeon working in England perfected shrapnel-removal techniques that saved dozens of lives. Discover how one case sealed his reputation as the founder of cardiac surgery.
- Article
- Article
We need less ‘sickle cell warriors’ and more allies
Rejecting the epithet “warrior”, Cheryl Telfer describes the pervasive effect sickle cell disease has on her life, and calls for more people to donate blood to help sicklers.
- In pictures
- In pictures
The evolution of war-zone medicine
The need to deal with battlefield injuries has led to inventive designs for extreme situations. Find out how camel-drawn ambulances and flat-pack hospitals have helped casualties survive.
- Article
- Article
Reclaiming my story
Sharing her story of mental illness and treatment with trainee social workers has helped Caroline Butterwick make sense of her past, and continues to be a positive part of her life today.
- Article
- Article
The father of handwashing
Doctors performing autopsies and then delivering babies – with not a hint of soap in between – was the grim recipe producing a lot of motherless offspring in the 1800s. But one man’s gargantuan efforts to upend accepted medical thinking turned the tide.
- In pictures
- In pictures
Testimonies of birth
A 1980s film about childbirth explores how the experience felt for the women featured and offers a glimpse into the big birthing trends of the day.
- Article
- Article
Sharing breastmilk with parents
Alev Scott donated her frozen breastmilk to a hospital milk bank, but she was curious about other routes. Here she explores commercial operations and informal private arrangements.
- In pictures
- In pictures
The grape cure
When we bring someone in hospital a bunch of grapes, we don't expect the grapes to work a miraculous cure upon them. But throughout history, wondrous healing powers have been attributed to the humble grape.
- In pictures
- In pictures
The history of sanatoriums and surveillance
The sanatorium treatment for tuberculosis was a curious combination of sunshine, fresh air, exercise and constant surveillance.
- Podcast
- Podcast
Tranquillity
Moya Lothian-McLean asks: when was the last time you felt utterly tranquil?
- Article
- Article
Rediscovering Margaret Louden, a forgotten NHS hero
Bored during lockdown, David Jesudason started bin diving at night. Then a chance discovery set him on a new path: to tell the story of a forgotten female surgeon.
- Article
- Article
Designing better mental health wards
Bringing colour and natural light to tired, grubby mental health wards has a measurably positive effect on patients. A few groundbreaking projects are showing the way.
- Article
- Article
The pain that punished feminists
In a society that viewed getting the vote, and pursuing an education and career, as unnatural goals for women, the pain of endometriosis was viewed as nature’s retribution.
- Article
- Article
In the tracks of Derek Jarman’s tears
Researcher E K Myerson shares her moving encounters with the personal papers of artist and filmmaker Derek Jarman.