Our UK hospital
Mildmay is a specialist, charitable hospital based in East London.
We work in close partnership with the NHS to provide life-changing rehabilitation and medical care for people facing some of the most complex health and social challenges.
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).
Mildmay Hospital provides inpatient rehabilitation, stabilisation and step-down care for adults with complex medical and social needs.
HIV Pathway
Mildmay holds a depth of expertise in HIV-related neurocognitive conditions, developed over 40 years, that is unmatched in Europe.
We support people living with complex and severe HIV-related illness, including HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder (HAND), helping patients regain cognitive function, mobility, confidence and independence.
Services for people who are sleeping rough, or are homeless
Mildmay Hospital provides specialist inpatient care and rehabilitation for people experiencing homelessness who are medically unwell or recovering from acute illness or detoxification, and who have no safe place to recover.
Our homelessness services support people at points of particular vulnerability, offering medical care, rehabilitation and coordinated support to help stabilise health, reduce the risk of repeat hospital admissions, and support onward pathways into appropriate accommodation and community services.
Delivered in partnership with the NHS and local services, this work reflects Mildmay’s commitment to addressing the intersection between poor health, homelessness and social exclusion.
Learn more about our homeless services
This includes step-down medical care following hospital discharge and specialist rehabilitation after detoxification.
Developing Our services
Mildmay Hospital provides specialist rehabilitation for patients whose immediate medical or surgical treatment is complete but who still require intensive therapy and stabilisation to regain function and independence.
We are actively developing and piloting new neuro-rehabilitation and neuropsychological services, including a proposed Neuro 2B Pathway. efforts are part of our commitment to enhancing patient care and addressing evolving healthcare needs.
Expert care, delivered with compassion
Our multidisciplinary team include specialist doctors, nurses, therapists, psychologists and support staff with deep experience in complex rehabilitation and long-term conditions
They understand that recovery is rarely just clinical. Many patients face isolation, stigma, homelessness or trauma alongside illness. Mildmay’s strength lies in treating the whole person; medically, psychologically and socially.
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
Cost-effective care that strengthens the NHS
The average cost of a bed at Mildmay Hospital is £455 per day - significantly lower than many acute hospital settings.*
By providing specialist rehabilitation and step-down care:
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We reduce pressure on acute NHS wards
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We prevent delayed discharges
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We support safer, more sustainable recovery
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We deliver value for the public purse.
Mildmay demonstrates what effective partnership between the NHS and the voluntary sector can achieve.
Why charitable support is essential
Running a specialist hospital is costly. It costs over £4 million a year - around £12,000 every day - to keep Mildmay Hospital open, safe and effective.
Our NHS contracts cover approximately 90% of these costs. The remaining 10% must be raised through charitable support.
We do not make a profit. Every pound donated is reinvested directly into patient care and recovery.
Your donations help us to:
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Maintain and improve wards, therapy spaces and equipment
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Fund the additional time and specialist input complex patients need
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Develop and pilot new care pathways
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Respond rapidly to emerging health and social challenges.
A legacy of compassion and leadership
In the early years of the HIV epidemic, Diana, Princess of Wales visited Mildmay repeatedly, sitting at the bedside of people with AIDS at a time of fear and stigma.
Her actions helped change public attitudes and affirmed the dignity of those receiving care.
In 2015, Prince Harry officially opened our new, purpose-built hospital, which replaced earlier buildings.
"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, that legacy continues through public advocates, partners and supporters who believe that no one should be left without care simply because their needs are complex.
"Long-term HIV care is proving more challenging and complex than we ever imagined. Mildmay helps to bring new hope to thousands caught up in the continuing HIV crisis. I urge you to join me in supporting their work."
Dame Judi Dench CH DBE FRSA
Mildmay Patron
How You Can Help
Mildmay Hospital exists because people care, and because supporters choose to stand with those who are too often overlooked.
Your support bridges the gap between what statutory funding can provide and what patients truly need to recover, rebuild and move forward.
You can help by:
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Making a donation, one-off or regular
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Leaving a gift in your Will
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Giving as a company, trust or church
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Fundraising or campaigning.
See also:
Our Complete History
William Pennefather (1826-1873)
by unknown artist
stipple engraving, mid 19th century
NPG D11183
© National Portrait Gallery, London
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.