GOSH Past, Current and Future
Speaker Alan Doig tells the story of Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), which opened in 1852 with just 10 beds and was the first hospital in the UK to offer dedicated inpatient care to children. The hospital has built a strong heritage of ground-breaking work, be that understanding the nature and causes of disease, pioneering new treatments or discovering better ways of working.
GOSH has been at the forefront of countless innovations: from developing nursing training in the late 19th century and opening the UK’s first Leukaemia Research Unit in the 1960s, through to today’s breakthroughs in gene therapy and its pivotal role in the national management of Covid-19.
In 1929, with the popularity of both the play and the novel firmly established, author JM Barrie unexpectedly and generously gifted his copyright of Peter Pan to GOSH. For over 80 years the story of Peter Pan and his battle against arch-enemy Captain Hook has enchanted children and adults alike and continues to benefit the seriously ill children who come to the hospital for life-saving treatment.