SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

I hope this hasn't been covered before,I've had a quick look and can't find anything so here goes.Why is Leeds a 'General' InfirmaryWhereas several other Yorkshire towns and cities are honouredwith the title 'Royal Infirmary'.

Good question - and I don't know the answer. I do know that the official name of the hospital is 'The General Infirmary at Leeds', not thats much help, mind.

The LGI was rebranded as "The General Infirmary at Leeds" a few years back. I wonder how much of our hard earned NI contributions the consultants swallowed up on that, eh?As for the original question, it used to be the case that to have the word "Royal" in the name of a building, etc you had to have the permission of the royal family, so maybe that had something to do with it?Back when the LGI was originally built, they didn't go a lot on fancy marketing or snazzy mission statements, so it probably reflects that the infirmary was a "general" hospital, dealing with everything. Back in those days a lot of hospitals specialised in specific areas of medicine - maternity or womens hospitals, or the contagious diseases hospital (Seacroft) for example.

I was always led to believe that 'The General Infirmary at Leeds' was an old/outdated name - dating back to the Hospitals origins (1767/1771) hence the rather archaic phrasing. I dont doubt there was a rebranding - but I think this particular name predates that.