The hospital has its origins in the Ilford Emergency Hospital located at Newbury Park on the A12 "Eastern Avenue" which was built between 1910 and 1912. It operated as a military hospital during the First World War. The War Memorial Children's Wing, to commemorate lives lost during the war, was completed in 1926. A re-building programme followed and the new facilities were opened by King George V in July 1931. The Baker Memorial Wing was completed in January 1935 and the hospital joined the National Health Service in 1948.