The hospital now known as Trafford General was opened as Park Hospital in 1929. It was taken over by the War Department in 1939 and used first for British and then for American troops, hosting visits from boxer Joe Louis and from Glenn Miller and his band, who played to patients on the hospital’s lawns. After the war, the hospital was handed back to Lancashire County Council, and on 5^th July 1948, Park Hospital was re-opened by Health Minister Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan as the first hospital in the new National Health Service. Bevan welcomed the first NHS patient, Sylvia Diggory, and the hospital welcomed its first baby, Sandra Pook. Park Hospital became and has remained, in Bevan’s own words, as recalled by Diggory, a physical monument to ‘a milestone in history – the most civilised step any country had ever taken’. It was re-named Trafford General Hospital in 1988 and it is now part of The Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, whose 10 hospitals deliver care to over 750,000 patients across Greater Manchester. 

In June 2023, as part of the University’s celebration of the NHS anniversary, the Northwest Film Archive at Manchester Met released a montage of clips from its collections showing historic healthcare practices in the region. The compilation opens with scenes from Park Hospital.