Royal Hampshire County Hospital
The Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester is a District General Hospital serving much of central Hampshire. It is owned and run by the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It is commonly abbreviated to RHCH, or alternatively, Winchester Hospital as it is the only open NHS hospital in Winchester.
The independent regulator of health and social care in England, the Care Quality Commission rated the hospital as "requires improvement" overall in 2018.
History
The Hampshire County Hospital was founded in Winchester in 1736 and initially was based in Colebrook Street before moving to a site in Parchment Street in 1759. Due to drainage issues, a site on higher ground was sought and the hospital moved to its present site on Romsey Road. Florence Nightingale advised on the construction on this new site and the architect William Butterfield designed the new hospital, which opened in 1868 with sixteen in-patients and fourteen out-patients. Queen Victoria awarded the hospital its "Royal" prefix.Later additions to the site include the old Outpatients Department in 1927, Florence Portal House in 1974, Nightingale Wing in 1986, Brinton Wing in 1992, and the new treatment and diagnostic centre in 2006. The education centre and library was also rebuilt in 2006.
At about 4pm on 9 December 2011, a fire broke out in the MRI Scanner Room; destroying the MRI Scanner and one of two CT Scanners, as well as the control room for all the scanners. The A&E Department next door survived, but was closed overnight, opening only for minor injuries the following night for several days until CT Scanning facilities were made available.
In January 2012, the Basingstoke and North Hants Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust merged with the Winchester and Eastleigh NHS Trust; forming a combined organisation henceforward called Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Wards
The wards in the hospital are as follows:| Name | Specialty | Beds | Location | |
| Anthony Letchworth | Gynaecology and Breast | 20 | Florence Portal House | |
| Bartlett | Trauma and Orthopaedics | Level D, Nightingale Wing | ||
| Clarke | Cardiology and Stroke | 25 | Level C, Brinton Wing | |
| Clifton | Geriatrics | 26 | Level B, Nightingale Wing | |
| Freshfield | Geriatrics | 26 | Level D, Nightingale Wing | |
| Geoffrey Hammond | Antenatal and Postnatal | 35 | 1st floor, Florence Portal House | |
| Intensive Care Unit | Intensive Care | 10 | Level D, Nightingale Wing | |
| Kemp Welch | General Surgery | 23 | Level D, Nightingale Wing | |
| Labour | Obstetrics | 8 | 1st floor, Florence Portal House | |
| McGill Acute Medical Unit | Acute Medicine | 46 | Level C, Nightingale Wing | |
| Mount | Pre-assessment | N/A | Level B, Brinton Wing | |
| Neonatal Unit | Neonatal Intensive Care | 12 | Florence Portal House | |
| Nick Jonas | Oncology | N/A | Level C, Brinton Wing | |
| Northbrook | Paediatrics | 7 | Level C, Nightingale Wing | |
| Shawford | Respiratory | 27 | Level B, Brinton Wing | |
| Short Stay Surgical Unit | General Surgery | Treatment Centre | ||
| St. Cross | Trauma and Orthopaedics | 16 | Level D, Nightingale Wing | |
| Twyford | Stroke | 24 | Level B, Brinton Wing | |
| Victoria | Gastroenterology and Endocrinology | 27 | Level C, Brinton Wing | |
| Wainwright | Colorectal surgery | 10 | Level D, Nightingale Wing | |
| Wykeham | Geriatrics | 25 | Level B, Nightingale Wing |
CQC evaluation
The Care Quality Commission rated RHCH as "Requires improvement" overall in July 2018. The findings of the report are summarised in the table below:| Safe | Effective | Caring | Responsive | Well-led | Overall | |
| Urgent and emergency services | ||||||
| Medical care | ||||||
| Surgery | ||||||
| Critical care | ||||||
| Maternity and gynaecology | ||||||
| Services for children and young people | ||||||
| End of life care | ||||||
| Outpatients and diagnostic imaging | ||||||
| Overall |