The Emergency Hospital Service (EHS) of Scotland was an intensive, publicly funded programme of hospital building conducted by the

Department of Health for Scotland Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

during the 1940s. The scale and pace of public investment in hospital construction and staffing was unprecedented in Europe. In a few years the EHS expanded Scottish hospital capacity by 60%, creating 20,500 additional beds. After the war, 13,000 of these EHS hospital beds and the accompanying staff, together with the older

Highlands and Islands Medical Service The Highlands and Islands Medical Service (HIMS) provided state funded healthcare to a population covering half of Scotland's landmass from its launch in 1913 until the creation of Scotland's National Health Service (NHS) in 1948. Though treatmen ...

facilities and staff, formed the basis of the

Scottish National Health Service NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the publicly funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland, ...

, founded in 1948.

History

The EHS began in 1939 to cope with the expected high number of civilian casualties from German air raids. Scotland was prioritised as it was seen as the likely refuge for resistance if the

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

had invaded England. Scottish civil servants had built up experience of directly running public health services since the establishment of the Highlands and Islands Medical Service in 1913, and they focussed their efforts into this new

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

programme. The expected numbers of civilian casualties never arrived at the new facilities, so Tom Johnston, the Secretary of State for Scotland (1941–45), decided to use the largely empty buildings to reduce long surgery waiting times, with 33,000 civilian patients treated by EHS facilities by the end of the war in 1945. Johnston also used the new EHS facilities for a new range of publicly funded specialist health care: orthopaedic care,

plastic surgery Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes cranio ...

eye injuries Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

psychoneurosis Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress, but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from th ...

neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and pe ...

and other specialities. The EHS also formed the basis of the national pathology laboratory service, and, in 1940 the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Association to improve existing transfusion services.

EHS hospitals

Sites were identified to build hospitals at: * Ballochmyle, Ayrshire *

Bridge of Earn Bridge of Earn ( gd, Drochaid Èireann) is a small town in Perthshire, Scotland. Often referred to simply as 'The Brig' (Scots Language, Scots for 'bridge'). The village grew up on the south bank of an important crossing of the River Earn, whose ...

, Perthshire *

Killearn Killearn (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cill Fhearann'', from orig. ''Ceann Fhearann'', "Head/End of (the) Land/Territory" – until the 15th century when ''Ceann'' was replaced by ''Cill''; denoting the presence of a house of worship) – is a smal ...

, Stirlingshire *

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

, Lanarkshire * Peel, Selkirkshire * Raigmore, Inverness * Stracathro, near Brechin, Angus The EHS construction programme came to the attention of German

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

, but they mistook it for a military programme, so the Law and Stracathro hospitals were marked on

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

maps as barracks. In addition to the 7 new hospitals and one clinic, the EHS constructed new annexes at existing hospitals. The annexe at

Bangour Village Hospital Bangour Village Hospital was a psychiatric hospital located west of Dechmont in West Lothian, Scotland. During the First World War it formed part of the much larger Edinburgh War Hospital. History The hospital was modelled on the village system ...

, West Lothian developed into Bangour General Hospital. Hotels were

commandeer Commandeering is an act of appropriation by the military or police whereby they take possession of the property of a member of the public. In the United States In United States law, it also refers to federal government actions which would force ...

ed to provide convalescent accommodation. For example, Gleneagles Hotel was adapted to care for injured mineworkers.

References

{{reflist 1939 establishments in Scotland 1948 disestablishments in Scotland Medical and health organisations based in Scotland NHS Scotland Organisations based in Edinburgh Social history of Scotland Government agencies established in 1939 Government agencies disestablished in 1948 United Kingdom home front during World War II Scotland in World War II

History

EHS hospitals

See also

References