[4] It is also a major Trauma Centre which provides specialised services in the areas of severe burns, neonatal intensive care, spinal cord injury and interventional radiology.

The hospital was opened with accommodation for fourteen patients, with the requisite office and rooms for the medical and nursing staff.

The site of the original hospital was bounded by Willoughby Road, Albany and Holterman Streets and Zig Zag Lane.

Between 1935 and 1940, polio treatment pioneer Sister Kenny travelled extensively throughout Australia helping to set up clinics.

In 1940, the New South Wales government sent Kenny to America to present her clinical method for treating polio victims to American doctors.

It provides local health services to five local government areas north of Sydney Harbour – Lane Cove, Mosman, North Sydney and Willoughby and Ryde — and caters for more than 1,110,600 people, which equates to 1 out of every 20 Australians, and 1 in 5 people living in NSW population.

[12] RNSH is also a major referral and tertiary hospital for the area extending north of Sydney Harbour, up to the southern shore of Lake Macquarie, and west to Wiseman's Ferry.

RNSH also provides facilities and support for postgraduate students, scientists and clinicians undertaking research programs in a variety of fields.

[15] Following the case of patient Jana Horska, who suffered a miscarriage in the hospital's toilet as a result of lack of available beds and staff, the State Government established the Joint Select Committee on the Royal North Shore Hospital in the New South Wales Parliament on 23 October 2007, chaired by Christian Democrats leader Fred Nile MLC.

This system includes red and yellow "Between the Flags" colour-coded observation charts for recording a person's vital signs, allowing for easy visual recognition of deterioration.

[18] In August 2016, RNSH came under fire when it was revealed that doctors at the hospital were issuing restricted antibiotics to tens of thousands of patients, without seeking approval.

[19] Northern Sydney Local Health District's system through which approval to prescribe the powerful antibiotics is sought, called eASY, had not been used to generate any of these prescriptions.

A foetus was incorrectly cremated in an incident in August 2015 that resulted in the parents being unable to bury their child as per their wishes.

The admission came after state budget estimates exposed a separate body swap at RNSH, in which the daughter of a deceased patient found that staff had incorrectly tagged her remains.