History of RPA

Single Bed Ward

Single bed wards were set up in the early years at RPA to provide specialised care for seriously ill patients.

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) was named after Queen Victoria's second son, His Royal Highness Prince Alfred, later Duke of Edinburgh. During a visit to Australia in 1868 Prince Alfred was the victim of an assassination attempt while on a picnic in the northern Sydney suburb of Clontarf.

Australians opened a public subscription fund to build a hospital as a memorial to his safe recovery. The prince authorised his coat of arms to be used as the new hospital's crest. King Edward VII granted the hospital its Royal prefix in 1902.

MORE THAN 100 YEARS OF SERVICE

RPA opened as a 146-bed hospital and received its first patients in 1882 at the Missenden Road site. During that year 1069 patients were admitted.

Now widely acknowledged for its tradition of medical innovation and leadership, RPA is responsible for producing many of the country's top clinicians. Its national and international reputation for excellence has long been established through the efforts of staff in patient care, teaching, research and support services, making it one of the State's premier tertiary referral hospitals.

PIONEERS IN PATIENT CARE

RPA medical and nursing staff have made some outstanding contributions to healthcare during the past century. Among these achievements are:

The first open heart surgery in NSW
The first and only hospital in NSW to establish a Liver Transplant Unit
Australia's first Perinatal Medicine Unit and first foetal heart monitor
The first aortic valve replacement
The first triage nurses in Australia
The first coronary angiography in NSW

RPA provides a range of specialty services unmatched in Australia. It offers total family healthcare, housed within an extensive multi-building campus. Included in the comprehensive facilities available are:

The largest Melanoma Unit in the world
Australia's National Liver Transplant Unit
One of the State's major trauma centres located in the emergency department including paediatric services
The first National Medical Cyclotron and Positron Emission Tomography Camera
A large In-Vitro Fertilisation Unit
Australia's first major Haemophilia Centre
The first Nuclear Medicine Department in Australia
The first audiology unit in an Australian teaching hospital
The first academic dermatology service in Australia
The first Gynaecological Oncology unit in Australia
The first psychiatric assessment unit for deaf and hearing impaired
The first sleep disorders centre in Australia

EXCELLENCE IN HEALTH

Leading Edge Research

RPA plays an active role in the implementation of innovative medical techniques. Doctors and researchers are continuously trialling new drugs and testing new equipment and procedures.

Ground-breaking research of international interest is regularly published and transferred into patient care at the earliest opportunity. RPA patients are often the first in the country to receive new, more effective forms of treatment.

Innovative Teaching

In 1884, the first 14 medical students were accepted, establishing RPA as the first teaching hospital in NSW. Located adjacent to the medical school of the University of Sydney, RPA has always placed a major emphasis on teaching. It now has the biggest student intake and one of the largest staffs of resident medical officers in NSW.

Numerous structured and accredited training programs are available for doctors wishing to specialise. Doctors and nurses trained at RPA continue to have enormous influence in medical and nursing circles.