Addenbrooke's Hospital

Addenbrooke's Hospital
Addenbrooke's Hospital
Organisation
Type	Local Hospital
History
Opened	1766
Links
Website	http://www.addenbrookes.org.uk Addenbrooke's

Addenbrooke's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Cambridge, England, with strong links to the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1766 on Trumpington Street with £4,500 from the will of Dr John Addenbrooke, a fellow of St Catharine's College. This building is now the Judge Business School. In 1976, the hospital moved to its present premises on the southern edge of the city. For a long time, this site was known as New Addenbrooke's, and still is by people who worked in the old one.

The Addenbrooke's Site

The hospital is run by the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which is not a part of Cambridge University. However, there is close co-operation between the two organisations, and the University's medical school is also based on the Addenbrooke's site. The medical school graduates approximately 120 new doctors every year (around half the total number of pre-clinical students, since the others complete their studies in London or Oxford).

In recent years, the Addenbrooke's site has almost become a self-contained town. The hospital has its own airport-style shopping concourse (part of which remains open till late), food court, sports centre, and accommodation units. The shopping concourse was a notable first, being opened in 1989 and extensively refurbished and extended in 1999. Many more research organisations are now moving in too, as Addenbrooke's continues to evolve into a fully-fledged biotechnology campus.(See Section Below)

Transport

The large site is served by a busy bus station, located on its gateway roundabout, with up to 60 buses arriving there every hour. A cycle lane serving the Long Road area has just been recently opened. Transport remains something of a problem due to the sheer volume of people arriving each day. Parking is increasingly restricted, as former car parks are being built on, and staff, patients and visitors are encouraged to travel in by bus or bike.

The Biomedical Campus

The Addenbrooke's site is home to a large number of Cambridge University buildings involved in medical research. The area in which these buildings are located, including the hospital itself, is known as the Biomedical Campus. The University's aims are to use the campus as one of the main centres of medical research in Europe.

Departments currently included in the Biomedical Campus and involved in research are:

Addenbrooke's Hospital
- Clinical Department of Oncology
- The Clinical Investigation Ward
- The Clinical School
- The Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre
The Cambridge Institute for Medical Research
The Hutchinson/MRC Research Centre
- University Department of Oncology
- MRC Cancer Cell Unit
The MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.

In addition, 3 new departments have already been completed, and are set to open later this year:

The Cancer Research UK Institute
Institute for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism
New Medical Research Council buildings.

Open Day

The hospital holds a free open day every two years allowing members of the public to visit areas of the hospital which would usually be inaccessible. The tours are colour coded according to the areas of the hospital they involve. Some of the tours available include:

The Basement Tour (Blue) - Takes place on a moving tug in the basement service corridors, and involves listening to various facts about the hospital buildings and equipment.
The Mortuary Tour (Red) - Involves a visit to the hospital's mortuary, with information about the various processes used after death.
The Pathology Tour (Purple) - A tour of the pathology laboratories, learning about the causes and treatments of disease.
The Sky Tour (Light Blue) - Takes place on the hospital roof, mainly giving information about the surrounding buildings and services.
The Theatre Tour (Green) - Involves a visit to one of the operating theatres, learning about the procedures and equipment used during surgery.

The next open day is scheduled for Saturday 17th May 2008.

Controversy

The Daily Mail has been using their main incinerator to burn aborted babies except in cases where the baby reached at least 24 weeks. In this case the body was disposed of at a crematorium.

Dr Anthony Russell, Bishop of Ely, said: "I am sorry to know this is the practice currently being adopted by the hospital. I recognise there is a wide range of responses to this issue, but believe the disposal of foetuses should be undertaken reverently and with dignity." [1]

External links