Charles West

Born in London on August 8, 1816, Charles West trained in medicine at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and continued his studies in Bonn, Paris, and Berlin, earning his medical degree in 1837. He built his career as a physician with a special interest in the health of women and children at a time when pediatrics was only beginning to emerge as its own field.

West became one of the most important early advocates for dedicated medical care for children. In 1852, he founded the Hospital for Sick Children in Great Ormond Street, the first children’s hospital in Britain, and his work there helped set a new standard for pediatric treatment. He also wrote influential medical books and lectures, including well-known work on the diseases of infancy and childhood.

Remembered as both a clinician and a reformer, West played a major part in giving children’s medicine a stronger place in nineteenth-century healthcare. His legacy lives on most clearly in the hospital he helped establish, which became one of the best-known children’s hospitals in the world.