The Queen's Hospital Sidcup - The first plastic surgery unit

Opened in 1917, as a result of the persistence of Harold Gillies, and funded largely by public donations the Queen's Hospital, Sidcup was developed as the First World War's, and probably the World's first major centre for plastic surgery of maxillo-facial injuries and burns. 

The flood of injuries generated by successive waves of major trench-based hostilities during the First World War provided no end of material for Gillies and his colleagues to work on. The Hospital's medical staff were organised on national lines, with contingents from Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  The Hospital itself and associated convalescent hospitals provided more than 1000 beds an, at times, overwhelming demand. Between 1917 and 1921 the hospital admitted in excess of 5000 servicemen.

Closing in 1925, the original buildings being demolished in 1975, this is the story of a remarkable, and unique medical facillity, which changed the course of reconstructive surgery.