Erection date: /11/2019
This plaque commemorates the contribution of south Asian doctors to the creation, leadership and development of general practice within the NHS. It recognises their unstinting dedication and service to all patients often in challenging environments.
We only know about this plaque from an article in the 24 November 2019 Hindustan Times, whence our photo. "The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has installed a commemorative blue plaque at its London headquarters to honour the contribution of doctors from India and south Asia who often worked in difficult circumstances over the decades."
When plaques are unveiled on easels there is always a worry that they may never find a permanent site and eventually be lost.
Site: 30 Euston Square (4 memorials)
NW1, Euston Square, 30
The Martin plaque is above the door, inside the projecting porch in Melton Street, shown in our photo. The Duke of Edinburgh plaque is on a public wall inside the ground floor of the building. The foundation stone for the extension is low on the Euston Road frontage, to the left of our photo, between the parked bike and the person in the dark red coat.
2022: we cannot see the plaque to Indian doctors on the outside of the building and the people in reception knew nothing about it so we have to assume it is lost, or was never erected other than on the easel.
There is a cafe on the ground floor of the building and there are often small exhibitions here. Do go in and have a look - the tiling in the large foyer area is lovely.
A leaflet we picked up in the building and the Wikipedia page together provide the following.
The original 1906-8 building, with the Melton Street frontage, was built as the HQ of the London, Edinburgh and Glasgow Assurance Company, and is now listed Grade II*. LEGAC specialised in providing welfare insurance for low income workers and their families. This was one of the first purpose-built office buildings in an area that was primarily residential. LEGAC was taken over by Pearl Assurance which donated the building to the new National Amalgamated Approved Society in 1912.
Over time the original architect, Beresford Pite added extensions: to the roof - 1913, and to the north - 1923. The large extension giving it a long Euston Road frontage (part of Beresford Pite's original vision) was by W. H. Gunton in 1932.
With the creation of the NHS the NAAS ceased to exist and the building was taken over by the government in 1948 and then passed back into private hands. After a period of vacancy the Royal College of General Practitioners took it over and in October 2012 it re-opened as their HQ.
The National Library of Medicine has a splendid page on this building with some original Beresford Pite drawings.
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