National Temperance Hospital

The National Temperance Hospital was a hospital in Hampstead Road, London, between Mornington Crescent and Warren Street. History The hospital opened as the London Temperance Hospital on 6 October 1873 by initiative of the National Temperance League, and was managed by a board of 12 teetotallers. Under its rules, the use of alcohol to treat patients was discouraged, but not outlawed: doctors could prescribe alcohol when they thought necessary for exceptional cases. In 1931, Chicago magnate Samuel Insull donated $160,000 to build a new extension, the "Insull Memorial wing" which was designed in the Art Deco style by architect William Binnie. It was renamed the National Temperance Hospital in 1932 and acquired the premises of the St Pancras Female Orphanage and Charity School, located on an adjacent site, in 1945. It was incorporated into the National Health Service in 1948 under the management of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board.