The Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital was a
maternity hospital in
Holyrood,
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, Scotland.
History
The hospital was established with surplus funds arising from disbandment of the
Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service
The Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Services (SWH) was founded in 1914. It was led by Dr. Elsie Inglis and provided nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, cooks and orderlies. By the end of World War I, 14 medical units had been outfitted and ...
, an organisation which had been formed by
Elsie Inglis
Eliza Maud "Elsie" Inglis (16 August 1864 – 26 November 1917) was a Scottish doctor, surgeon, teacher, Women's suffrage, suffragist, and founder of the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service, Scottish Women's Hospitals. She was the ...
and which had sent hospital units to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
,
Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
and
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
The 20-bed hospital opened in July 1925.
[ The hospital joined the ]National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
in 1948 and was directly managed by the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, or RIE, often (but incorrectly) known as the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, or ERI, was established in 1729 and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest v ...
.[ After services transferred to the ]Eastern General Hospital
The Eastern General Hospital was a health facility in Seafield Street in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland. It was managed by NHS Lothian at its time of closure and prior to that was managed by Lothian Health Board.
History
The hospital was designed by ...
, despite public protests about the proposed closure, the facility closed in 1988.[ Following assurances that another maternity unit in the city would be named after Inglis, one journalist suggested renaming the ]Royal Hospital for Children and Young People
The Royal Hospital for Children and Young People is a hospital that specialises in paediatric healthcare. The hospital replaced the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (the ''Sick Kids'') in Sciennes. It forms part of the Royal Infirmary of Edinbur ...
after her.
The original maternity facility subsequently re-opened as a private nursing home and nursery, but following an investigation into the death of a 59-year-old woman, it closed again in 2011. The building was converted and the site is now occupied by residential properties.
References
{{authority control
Hospital buildings completed in 1925
Hospitals in Edinburgh
Monuments and memorials in Edinburgh
Hospitals established in 1925
Category C listed buildings in Edinburgh
Listed hospital buildings in Scotland
Listed monuments and memorials in Scotland
Maternity hospitals in the United Kingdom
Defunct hospitals in Scotland
Nursing homes in the United Kingdom