Breakthroughs

Beginnings (1852) Great Ormond Street Hospital opened in 1852, becoming the first children’s hospital in the English-speaking world. This heralded a major change in the way that childhood and children were perceived in society. The hospital was the first of its kind to recognise that children had specific medical needs, separate from adults, that required a tailored approach.

Heart and lung bypass machine (1962) The hospital pioneered the first heart and lung bypass machine for children, revolutionising heart surgery. Today, Great Ormond Street Hospital is the largest centre for child heart surgery in the UK and one of the largest centres for heart transplantation in the world. Since the transplant programme began, the team have conducted over 500 heart and/or lung transplants.

Shunt valves for children with hydrocephalus (1962) Children’s author Roald Dahl (pictured), hydraulic engineer Stanley Wade and paediatric neurosurgeon Kenneth Till joined forces to invent a pioneering shunt valve for children with hydrocephalus (water on the brain). The new shunt, which is used to drain excess fluid from the skull, was robust, easy to sterilise and, crucially, didn’t jam like previous versions.

Rubella (1967) In 1967, Great Ormond Street Hospital led the first UK clinical trials of the rubella vaccine. Within a year, 110 children had been vaccinated. Three years later, in 1970, the UK-wide immunisation of girls and childbearing adult females was rolled out for rubella.

First bone marrow transplant at GOSH (1979). As part of our pioneering bone marrow transplant programme, Professor Roland Levinsky attempted to transplant cells from a healthy donor into the bone marrow of a patient with severe combined immunodeficiency. The operation was successful, curing young Andrew Williams (pictured) of the disease.

Gene therapy (2000) In 2000, Great Ormond Street Hospital launched the world’s first gene therapy trials for children born without functioning immune systems. By 2011, gene therapy had cured 14 children with previously fatal forms of severe combined immunodeficiency.

Heart valve replacements (2001) In 2001, a radical technique was introduced to replace faulty heart valves in children without the need for open heart surgery. The collapsible stent is inserted into a balloon and pushed through a blood vessel into the heart. The balloon is inflated, causing the stent and valve to expand into position. Great Ormond Street Hospital is the only centre in the world to offer this procedure.