Helen Boyle
(1869-1957), Specialist in nervous diseases, co-founder of the Lady Chichester Hospital and President, Royal Medico-Psychological AssociationAlice Helen Anne Boyle
Sitter in 2 portraits
Boyle was the first female president of the Royal Medico-Psychological Association and a pioneer in the preventative treatment of women in the early stages of mental illness. After attending the London School of Medicine for Women from 1890 to 1893, Boyle assisted the Medical Officer at Claybury Hospital, focusing on neurological disorders. As Superintendent at Canning Town Mission Hospital, witnessing patients' distress motivated her to found her own surgery with fellow doctor Mabel Jones: the Lewes Road Dispensary for Women and Children. They became the first female doctors in Hove and their hospital later became The Lady Chichester Hospital for the Treatment of Early Mental Disorders, the first of its kind. Principles of the hospital included the provision of treatment for women by women. Between 1914 - 1918 she served with the Royal Free Hospital unit in Serbia with Lady Berry and Sir James Berry during the First World War and in 1917 helped to found The Medical Women’s Federation (1917).
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