The hospital has its origins in a workhouse built in York Street in 1729 which was demolished to make way for an extension to the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway in 1895.

[4] The Medical Research Centre was opened by the Duchess of Gloucester in 1986 and a new CT body scanner was unveiled by Princess Margaret in 1988.

[2] In 2021 the trust secured funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme to build a new energy centre which will be equipped with combined heat and power units.

This is intended to reduce its carbon footprint by 14,000 tonnes and guarantee energy savings of approximately £1.8 million annually.

The contract with Vital Energi includes installation of LED lighting, 300 kWe solar PV panels, and 342 kW air source heat pumps around the hospital.