1899 - designed by architects Henman and Cooper of Birmingham. The Royal Victoria Hospital and its subsidiary hospitals, became the Royal Group of Hospitals (or The Royal Hospitals). Frank Pantridge, the "father of emergency medicine", was a cardiac consultant at the hospital for over thirty years. During his time at the Royal, Pantridge developed the portable defibrillator. The portable defibrillator revolutionised emergency medicine, allowing patients to be treated early by paramedics.