A History of the Frenchay Hospital Plastic Surgery Unit, Bristol, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Frenchay Hospital has long since been established as the center for plastic surgery in Bristol, providing care to the city and its surrounding catchment area. From humble origins in the Second World War when the site took on the role of a large military hospital providing reconstructive surgery for the victims of war to a busy modern-day National Health Service establishment, the plastic surgery unit at Frenchay Hospital has grown and developed through in parallel with the genesis and development of the specialty. Recent centralization of care in Bristol has seen a massive reorganization of services, and with it the closure of Frenchay Hospital. Because the plastic surgery unit establishes a new home at Southmead Hospital, this review documents the foundations of reconstructive surgery in Bristol and the South West United Kingdom.