Collection KH/N - NURSING: King's College Hospital School of Nursing student nurse records

In 1856 the Sisterhood of St John the Evangelist signed an agreement with King's College Hospital to provide all nursing and catering for the Hospital. This agreement was terminated in 1885, and the Committee of Management of the Hospital formed its own nursing staff, under Sister-Matron Katharine Monk. Monk reorganised the nursing department and founded the Training School for Nurses. In 1948, with the inauguration of the National Health Service, the Belgrave Hospital and the Royal Eye Hospital were amalgamated with King's to form the King's College Hospital Group. The Sister-Matron, as head of the Nurse Training School, was responsible for coordinating and, as far as possible, standardising the training in the hospitals in the Group. She was also ultimately responsible to the Board of Governors for the nursing of all the patients. A Nursing Procedure Committee was set up to try to standardise nursing techniques throughout the Group. The Committee consisted of administrative sisters, ward sisters and sister tutors. The amalgamation of the hospitals in Camberwell in the early 1960s brought about the closure of the individual nurse training schools at Dulwich Hospital, St Francis Hospital and St Giles Hospital. These training schools were gradually combined with King's. When the King's Health District (Teaching) was formed in 1974, a District Nursing Officer was appointed, as a member of the District Management Team. In 1975 the Nursing School moved into Normanby College, which was built for the training of para-medical staff, including nurses, physiotherapists and radiographers, to teach them something of elementary physiology, anatomy and pathology.