Lord Mayor visits Mildmay HIV hospital meeting staff and patients

The Lord Mayor of London has visited east London’s famous Mildmay Hospital to see the work of the medical staff and to meet patients at the end of its 150th anniversary year.

Lord Mayor Andrew Parmley - Credit: Mildmay

Andrew Parmley looked in at the unique HIV treatment centre behind Shoreditch Church and learned about its specialised rehabilitation, medical treatment and care for people with complex and severe health conditions including brain impairment.

“We all owe the Mildmay an immense debt of gratitude,” he said. “The care, experience, knowledge and dedication of its skilled team transforms countless lives.”

He and the mayoress joined the charity hospital’s chief executive Ross White for a service of thanks for the 150th anniversary year—which began with a visit by Prince Harry whose mother Princess Di broke taboos in the 1980s when she famously shook hands with a Mildmay Aids patient.

Tuesday’s visit follows nursing staff having taken part in last month’s Lord Mayor’s Show in the City for the first time.

Lord Mayor Andrew Parmley - Credit: Mildmay

Mildmay’s origins stretch back to 1866—same year the East London Advertiser first appeared—with the work of Catherine Pennefather, widow of the preacher William Pennefather, to tackle the Cholera epidemic in the slums of Shoreditch and Bethnal Green.

She set up her voluntary medical mission at Cabbage Court in the notorious Old Nichol slum quarter. The mission later opened a purpose-built hospital in 1892, eventually replaced by a new complex after 112 years which opened in 2014.