Medical instruments go on display in Worcester

A new permanent exhibition, celebrating the history of medicine, is being created in a ward of the former Worcester Royal Infirmary.

Extensive collections of medical equipment, documents and uniforms are to go on public display for the first time, in the building where the British Medical Association (BMA) was founded, thanks to a £537,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The grant is 74% of the total project cost for the exhibition to be called Museum@WRI.

The BMA was founded by Sir Charles Hastings in the boardroom of the former hospital in 1832 and the site now forms the University of Worcester’s City Campus.

Catriona Smellie, Curator at the George Marshall Medical Museum based at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, said: “We have hundreds of rare books, going back to the 1600s, collections of medical equipment, and most interesting, in my opinion, are some of the artefacts found during the renovations of the site, such as old postcards and letters belonging to the nurses that lived and worked here.”

The University is working with the George Marshall Medical Museum in the City to develop the new exhibition.

The current George Marshall Medical Museum at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital will remain open, displaying further exhibitions of the City’s medical past.

Further info

Gallery of images inside the former Worcester Royal Infirmary

Roman remains found at infirmary site