The Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital was a

maternity hospital A maternity hospital specializes in caring for women during pregnancy and childbirth. It also provides care for newborn infants, and may act as a centre for clinical training in midwifery and obstetrics. Formerly known as lying-in hospitals, most o ...

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