ABSTRACT
Medical facilities were completely unorganised and virtually uncontrolled, except in the immediate vicinity of London. The conditions in London hospitals appear to have been worse than those in provincial hospitals. London was the world's largest city and the capital of the greatest empire during the period 1850-1930, when the emergence of biomedical science prompted the construction of hospitals throughout the industrialised world. Paupers had access to medical treatment by virtue of the Elizabethan Poor Laws and in the first half of the eighteenth century, 50 of the 155 workhouses in Great Britain were in London. Part of the considerable volume of hospital resources was a significant preponderance of teaching hospitals. The administrative arrangements for the Emergency Medical Service in London paid particular attention to the interests of the voluntary hospitals. London was divided into ten sectors radiating from Charing Cross, each including a teaching hospital.
