Western General Hospital
Western General Hospital | |
---|---|
NHS Lothian | |
Shown in Edinburgh | |
Geography | |
Location | Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland |
Coordinates | 55°57′44″N 3°14′06″W / 55.962142°N 3.234947°WCoordinates: 55°57′44″N 3°14′06″W / 55.962142°N 3.234947°W |
Organisation | |
Care system | NHS Scotland |
Type | General Hospital |
Affiliated university | University of Edinburgh Medical School |
Services | |
Emergency department | Minor Injuries Unit only |
Beds | 570 |
History | |
Opened | 1868 |
Links | |
Website | Western General Hospital |
The Western General Hospital (often abbreviated to simply ‘The Western General’) is a health facility at Crewe Road, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Lothian.
History[]
The hospital was designed by Peddie and Kinnear and opened as the St. Cuthberts and Canongate Poorhouse in 1868, principally as a workhouse but also having some hospital functions.[1] It was later renamed Craigleith Poorhouse.[2][3] In 1915, during the First World War, the building was requisitioned by the War Office to create the 2nd Scottish General Hospital, a facility for the Royal Army Medical Corps to treat military casualties.[4] After returning to poorhouse use in 1920 it was converted fully to hospital use in 1927. A nurses' home was added in 1935 and a pathology block was completed in 1939.[3] It joined the National Health Service in 1948 and a new library was completed in 1979.[3]
The first Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre opened on the Western General Hospital site in 1996.[5]
In June 2012 the Medicine for the Elderly services were transferred from the Royal Victoria Hospital to a new purpose-built facility known as the Royal Victoria Building at the Western General Hospital.[6]
A facility to treat young people with cancer aged 16 to 24 was opened in the Western General Hospital in December 2013.[7]
Buildings[]
Buildings include:[8]
- Nuffield Transplant Unit by Peter Womersley, 1955 – distinctive modenist architecture and pedestrian bridge over the south access road
- A range of functional buildings from the 1950s (including surgical theatres) by Basil Spence
- Nurses Home by City Architect (Ebenezer MacRae) 1935
- Pathology Department by City Architect (Ebenezer MacRae) 1939
- Royal Victoria Building. The RVB was built primarily as a replacement for the Royal Victoria Hospital, a Medicine of the Older Adult assessment and rehabilitation Unit.
Services[]
The hospital has over 700 beds including day beds.[9] Although the Western no longer has an Accident and Emergency department, a nurse-led minor injuries unit has been operating on the site since 1994.[10]
The hospital served as a base for the neurology and neurosurgery centre for south east Scotland ("Department of Clinical Neurosciences") [11] until the department moved to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary at Little France in 2020.[12]
There is a major national cancer research and treatment centre at the hospital which was refurbished in 2007.[13]
References[]
- ^ Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh by Gifford, McWilliam and Walker
- ^ "Western General Hospital History". NHS Lothian. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Western General Hospital". Historic Hospitals. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ "Second Scottish General Hospital Craigleith". Archives Hub. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- ^ "Maggie's Edinburgh". Retrieved 9 June 2014.
- ^ "Royal Victoria Building". NHS Lothian. 9 June 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
- ^ "Duchess opens £1.35m cancer centre in Edinburgh". BBC News. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
- ^ Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh, by Gifford, McWilliam and Walker
- ^ "Western General Hospital (WGH)". NHS Lothian. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
- ^ "Minor injuries clinic is major asset to Capital". The Scotsman. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ "Celebrating the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the Western General Hospital". University of Edinburgh. 1 December 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ "NHS Lothian celebrates the start of an exciting new chapter in the history of neuroscience in Edinburgh and the Lothians". NHS Lothian. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ^ "Chemotherapy and trials suite". Aitken Turnbull. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
External links[]
- Media related to Western General Hospital, Edinburgh at Wikimedia Commons
- Western General Hospital Official site
- NHS Scotland hospitals
- Teaching hospitals in Scotland
- Hospitals in Edinburgh
- 1868 establishments in Scotland
- Hospitals established in 1868
- University of Edinburgh
- NHS Lothian