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HOSPREC, the Hospital Records database, is a unique resource that brings together information on records relating to hospitals across the UK. Researchers Giorgia Tolfo and Laura Robson-Mainwaring reflect on the usefulness of this service and how we are making it more accessible.

Operating Theatre, Great Northern Central Hospital, Islington, 1910. Catalogue reference: COPY 1/547

The HOSPREC database began in 1979, when the Health Records Study Group at the Wellcome Library started compiling information about hospital archives. Initially, each entry was recorded on paper slips before being transferred to a digital database in 1986. By 2000, HOSPREC became a fully searchable online resource making this valuable information more accessible than ever before.

The database was first actively maintained by the Wellcome Library and later by The National Archives. By 2012, it contained more than 2,800 entries and references to over 3,000 NHS and private hospitals. In 2022, changes to the database’s underlying technology meant that the original website could no longer be maintained. While the interface was retired and preserved through the UK Government Web Archive, the dataset remained available for download via data.gov.uk.

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