Medical dates:

Medical character:

The Croydon Borough Hospital for Infectious diseases opened in 1901.

In 1924 it became the Croydon Borough Sanatorium for patients with TB.  In 1929 an extension was built, increasing the bed complement to 85 instead of 50.

At the outbreak of WW2 in 1939 the Sanatorium joined the Emergency Medical Service.  It had 94 beds.

In 1948 the Sanatorium joined the NHS as one of the two TB hospitals (the other was the Cumberland Hospital) under the control of the St Helier Group Hospital Management Committee, part of the South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board.  It was renamed Cheam Sanatorium.

In 1950 the Sanatorium had 81 beds.

By 1952 its chalets had been closed as they were no longer considered suitable for use as sleeping accommodation for patients. Two of the chalets were offered to the Wilson Hospital as summer houses - one for male patients and one for nurses using the tennis courts.

In 1953 the wards were redecorated and a new 2-station wireless (radio) system installed.  It had been intended to provide additional bathrooms and WCs, but this project was postponed.  The Management Committee decided to stop cultivating a 3.5 (1.4 ha) acre field as it was uneconomical.  Grass was sown and the field became a cricket pitch.

In 1956 a shortage of nurses meant that only 50 of the 75 beds could be open but, in 1957, one ward was allocated for chronic sick female patients, while another 10 beds were filled with TB patients transferred from Cuddington Hospital.

In 1958 the weekly cost of an in-patient was £18 8s 0d (£18.40), which had increased to £23 1s 7d (£23.08) by the following year.

In 1959 the Sanatorium had 58 beds in the winter months, which rose to 72 in the summer, when balcony beds would be used.  The verandahs were enclosed, allowing the bed complement to be 72 throughout the year.

In 1960 two Day Rooms for the patients were built.

In 1965 the weekly cost of an in-patient was £23 6s 2d (£23.31), rising to £25 3s 7d (£25.18) in 1966.

In 1968, as anti-tuberculous drugs had greatly improved the treatment of TB,  the Sanatorium became a long-stay hospital for chronic patients.  It was renamed Cheam Hospital.

In 1971 the weekly cost of an in-patient was £33.97 and, in 1972, £41.23.

Following a major reorganisation of the NHS in 1974, the Hospital came under the administration of the Merton and Surrey District Health Authority, part of the South West Thames Regional Health Authority.

The Hospital closed in 1984.


Present status (May 2009)

The long drive leading up to the Hospital from London Road is now a cul-de-sac. 

The Hospital has been demolished and its site is now the Cotswold Way estate, accessed via Langley Avenue on the northeast side.  Cotswold Way runs in a rough oval around the main Hospital site, with terraced housing around the outside and part of the inside, and a number of small apartment blocks in the middle.