2-359-349 - Worldwide Photography/Heritage-Images

Hospital operating theatre, Royal Masonic Hospital, Hammersmith, London, 1980. Ravenscourt Park hospital in Hasmmersmith in West London was formally known as the Royal Masonic Hospital. It was acquired by Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust in 2002 on a 15-year lease and was thought by heath ministers at the time to be able to cut NHS waiting lists. With six theatres and 105 beds, over £14 million was spent improving facilities to cut waiting lists for operations. Unfortunately Ravenscourt Park never had enough patients to make the hospital viable and it was closed in 2006. In the photograph, a hip replacement operation is in progress.