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In addition to receiving treatments from the community, patients could receive treatment from a hospital and a trained physician. However, hospitals and physicians were not available for everyone in medieval England.

Hospital care

The number of hospitals increased during the medieval period. Most of the hospitals in England were owned and run by the Church - for example, they were often linked to monasteries or convents. Some were paid for by wealthy people when they died - often in exchange for a promise that their soul would go the heaven. This indicates the importance of religious belief.

Hospitals did not always treat the sick but cared for them through prayer and by providing an environment where they could rest and recover. The patients were cared for by monks and nuns. Hospitals also offered a place to stay for travellers and those on pilgrimage.

Hospitals were kept clean, and the monks and nuns were tasked with ensuring that the bedding was changed and washed regularly. The patients were allowed to take part in church services from their beds. One of the most famous medieval hospitals was St Bartholomew’s in London, which is still taking care of patients today.

Leprosy

Leprosy was a skin disease that led to fingers and toes falling off, hair falling out and eventually death.

If someone caught leprosy, they were separated from the community and made to live in a ‘leper house’. They would also wear a cloak and ring a bell. This was to warn others of their presence and to let them know to stay away. It was believed, at the time, that leprosy was highly contagious.

Those suffering with leprosy - or another infectious disease - were not allowed to receive care in a hospital. They were cared for in separate facilities called leper houses. This was because it was recognised that the illnesses could be spread quickly to other patients, even if it was not known how this happened.

Physicians

Medieval physicians trained at a university for at least seven years. There, they studied the books of ancient physicians such as Hippocrates and Galen. A physician would diagnose a patient’s illness and recommend treatment after close observation.

Physicians were expensive and only the rich could afford to see them. The poor were treated by female family members or women within their community.