Our main site, the Royal Berkshire
Hospital in Reading, has recently
undergone a £132m redevelopment.
The Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) was
opened in Reading in 1839, on four acres of land donated by
Lord Sidmouth.
The hospital's patron was Queen Victoria. Reading architect
Henry Briant was commissioned to design the 50 bed building.
Donations totalling £13,000 were raised to complete the building
and equip it.
Subscribers recommended patients, who were cared for by honorary
surgeons and physicians. Battle Hospital began as Reading Union
Workhouse, built in 1867 at a cost of £14,000. Between 1889 and
1892 an infirmary was added with 185 beds for vagrants. In the
First World War it became Reading War Hospital. The single storey
Abbey block, opened in 1972, became the main building on the
site.
The Royal Berkshire and Battle Hospitals NHS
Trust was formed in 1993. A large programme of rebuilding
resulted in the consolidation of all clinical services on the RBH
site in 2005.
The RBBH Trust became the Royal Berkshire NHS
Foundation Trust on 1 June 2006.
Useful Contacts
Royal Berkshire
NHS Foundation Trust
London Road
Reading
RG1 5AN
0118 322 5111