Our UK hospital
Mildmay is a charitable hospital based in East London.
We are proud to be a key partner of the NHS, providing essential healthcare services under contract.
Mildmay specialises in providing comprehensive care and rehabilitation services for individuals facing challenging life circumstances, in a welcoming and modern hospital setting in London.
We provide rehabilitation, treatment and care for people with complex and severe HIV-related health conditions, including HIV-associated brain impairment (also known as HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder or HAND).
In 2020, we added Step-Down Homeless Medical Care and Step-Down COVID-Care Pathways, and in 2022, we introduced the REBUILD (post-detox rehabilitative care) Pathway. In 2023, we began to develop new neurological rehabilitation and stabilisation pathways for patients after their immediate medical and surgical needs have been met.
We maintain a pool of expertise and knowledge that is unsurpassed in Europe.
Mildmay is only part-funded by the NHS for providing services, meaning that charitable contributions and donations are essential for maintaining, enhancing and developing our services and facilities. This additional support comes from charitable giving by donors, via legacies, church support, company giving and grants from charitable trusts and foundations.
The effectiveness of our interventions, our responsiveness to patient need, the safety of patients, visitors and staff, and the physical environment all remain our focus in providing care.
On average, it costs over £4 million annually (or about £12,000 per day) to keep Mildmay open (depending on our mix of patients).
Our NHS contracts fund about 85-90 per cent of our actual costs, and we need to raise the rest from charitable donations to maintain and improve our services and facilities.
We are a charity providing specialist services to the NHS, not an NHS or private hospital, so we don't make a profit - ALL charitable income is invested in our services and facilities.
The average cost of a bed at Mildmay Hospital is £455 per day.
Mildmay bed costs vary from £400 to £511.35, depending on the agreed contract rate, and, importantly, include all clinical treatment, therapies and social care.
Crucially, this makes us far more cost-effective than a standard bed in an NHS hospital, which costs £345, but this excludes any treatment or other costs, and a critical care bed costs a minimum of £1,881 per day.
They often live in difficult social circumstances, which make their access to the care that others take for granted very difficult. Through our rehabilitation pathways, which involve nursing, medical and therapeutic interventions working together, as well as social and peer support, patients are invariably discharged in a better state of health to live as independently as possible.
Our patients often have both physical and cognitive impairments, frequently coupled with coexistent psychological ill-health.
Mildmay Hospital restores independence to most patients thanks to our unique rehabilitation programmes.
HIV Pathway
Patients arrive at Mildmay Hospital in need of 24-hour care, with some being unable to walk or talk when first admitted.
Mildmay uses a trauma-informed approach to care, providing a range of therapies and medical care combined with medication and rehabilitation, which means that the majority of patients return to independent living in the community upon discharge from Mildmay.
Patients from all over the country are referred to Mildmay Hospital and for many, their lives are transformed beyond recognition.
Services for people who are sleeping rough, or are homeless
Developing Our services
In line with the Trustees' 2022 strategic plan, Mildmay Hospital is actively developing and piloting new neuro-rehabilitation and neuropsychological services, including a proposed Neuro 2B Pathway.
These efforts are part of our commitment to enhancing patient care and addressing evolving healthcare needs.
In 2015, Prince Harry opened our new hospital
Prince Harry’s visit to Mildmay at the end of 2015 marked the official opening of our new, purpose-built hospital, which replaced earlier buildings.
Harry also visited Mildmay to be interviewed for the excellent BBC One documentary The Truth About HIV, which aired in 2017.
An estimated 113,500 people are living with HIV in the UK*, with over 5,200 undiagnosed.
People with a late diagnosis are much more likely to develop severe health conditions. This includes HIV associated neurocognitive disorders, which can present with symptoms similar to severe dementia.
93% of these people are diagnosed and therefore know that they have HIV, but around 1 in 14 people living with HIV in the UK do not know that they have the virus and are at risk of passing HIV on to others.
As people are now living longer with HIV, the number of people with an HIV diagnosis who are aged 50 and over is increasing in recent years. Two in five people accessing HIV care in 2018 were aged 50 or over.
*Source: Terrence Higgins Trust
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana visited Mildmay numerous times and had a profound impact breaking through the stigma around HIV and AIDS.
"Diana, Princess of Wales was a great friend to Mildmay. We remember her visits with respect and affection and are ever grateful for her impact, her compassion and her determination to change hearts and minds."
Ross White
Former Mildmay Chief Executive
Today, thanks in part to Diana's support for our hospital, Mildmay remains at the forefront of HIV treatment and rehabilitation.
Our History
Mildmay’s origins stretch back to the mid-1860s and the work carried out by The Reverend William Pennefather, a vicar at St Judes, and his wife Catherine.
William Pennefather (1826-1873)
by unknown artist
stipple engraving, mid 19th century
NPG D11183
© National Portrait Gallery, London
