Glasgow Royal Infirmary
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The Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) is a large
teaching hospital A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...
. With a capacity of around 1,000 beds, the hospital campus covers an area of around , and straddles the
Townhead Townhead ( gd, Ceann a' Bhaile, sco, Tounheid) is an area of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated immediately north-east of Glasgow city centre and contains a residential sector (redeveloped from an older neighbourhood in the mid 20th ...
and
Dennistoun Dennistoun is a mostly residential district in Glasgow, Scotland, located north of the River Clyde and in the city's east end, about east of the city centre. Since 2017 it has formed the core of a Dennistoun ward under Glasgow City Council, ...
districts on the north-eastern fringe of the city centre of
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, Scotland. It is managed by
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is an NHS board in West Central Scotland, created from the amalgamation of NHS Greater Glasgow and part of NHS Argyll and Clyde on 1 April 2006. It is the largest health board in both Scotland, and the UK, which c ...
. It was originally opened in 1794, with the present main building dating from 1914.


History


Founding of the infirmary

A Royal Charter was obtained in 1791 granting the Crown-owned land to the hospital. The infirmary was built beside
Glasgow Cathedral Glasgow Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Ghlaschu) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest cathedral in mainland Scotland and the oldest building in Glasgow. The cathedral was the seat of the Archbisho ...
on land that held the ruins of the
Bishop's Castle Bishop's Castle is a market town in the south west of Shropshire, England. According to the 2011 Census it had a population of 1,893. Bishop's Castle is east of the Wales-England border, about north-west of Ludlow and about south-west of Sh ...
, which dated from at least the 13th century but had been allowed to fall into disrepair. George Jardine, Professor of Logic, was appointed the first manager in January 1793. Designed by
Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
and James Adam, the original Royal Infirmary building was opened in December 1794. The original Adams building had five floors (one underground) holding eight wards (giving the hospital just over a hundred beds) and a circular operating room on the fourth floor with a glazed dome ceiling. After a number of additional buildings were added, the first in 1816, a specialist fever block in 1829 and a surgical block in 1860.


St Mungo's College Medical School

St Mungo's College Medical School was set up in 1876 by the medical teachers of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, after the university had migrated westwards and set up the new Western Infirmary for clinical teaching. At first their students could not take the university examinations. St Mungo's College also had a non-university law school, which prepared accountants and law agents but not advocates. In 1947 it was absorbed into the University of Glasgow's Faculty of Medicine.


New building

The original Adams building was replaced with a new building designed by James Miller and opened by
King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
in July 1914. In 1926, the surgical block in which
Joseph Lister Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of ...
had worked was also torn down for replacement.


Post-war redevelopment

Following the amalgamation of the old St. Mungo's College of Medicine into the
University of Glasgow Medical School The University of Glasgow School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing is the medical school of the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and is one of the largest in Europe, offering a 5-year MBChB degree course. It is ranked 2nd in the UK for medicine ...
in 1947, the old College buildings on Castle Street officially became part of the hospital campus. In 1948 the hospital became part of
NHS Scotland 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, ...
. Visions of a brand new hospital on the site had been part of the
Bruce Report The Bruce Report (or the Bruce Plan) is the name commonly given to the ''First Planning Report to the Highways and Planning Committee of the Corporation of the City of Glasgow''Robert Bruce (1945), ''First Planning report to the Highways and Pla ...
as early as the late 1940s, but by 1974, the Greater Glasgow Health Board had formally begun plans for the replacement of the 1914 Miller buildings with a brand new building. This would be located on the north of the hospital site overlooking Alexandra Parade and the M8 motorway. The new building was designed by Sir
Basil Spence Sir Basil Urwin Spence, (13 August 1907 – 19 November 1976) was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Moderni ...
in a "modular" fashion, where new blocks could be easily added in phases as funding allowed. In the end, only the first phase of Spence's original design was implemented and was finally completed around 1982. It also incorporated new accommodation for the hospital's teaching departments, thus replacing the old St. Mungo's College buildings. The new complex was linked to the Surgical Block of the original Royal Infirmary building at basement level via a link corridor, with a further pedestrian entrance at lower basement level on Wishart Street (adjacent to the Necropolis). The new facility was officially named the "Queen Elizabeth Building" by
the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...
on a visit in July 1986. Since 1982 the pre-1915 buildings of the Infirmary have been protected as a
category B listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. After the closure of the
Rutherglen Maternity Hospital Rutherglen Maternity Hospital was a women and children's hospital in Stonelaw Road, Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. History Until the 1970s, maternity services in Rutherglen were provided at the Duke Street Hospital. The foundation st ...
and the old Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital at
Rottenrow The Rottenrow is a street in the Townhead district of Glasgow, Scotland. One of the oldest streets in the city, it was heavily redeveloped in the 20th century and is now enveloped by the University of Strathclyde's John Anderson Campus. Histor ...
, a new maternity block was added to the New Building; the
Princess Royal Maternity Hospital The Princess Royal Maternity Hospital is a maternity hospital in Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded as the Glasgow Lying-in Hospital and Dispensary in 1834 in Greyfriars Wynd, just off the city's High Street. It moved to St Andrew's Square in 1 ...
opened in 2001. Following the closure of
Canniesburn Hospital Canniesburn Hospital was a health facility on Switchback Road in Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The original hospital blocks constitute a Grade B listed building. History The facility, which was designed in 1936 by George James Miller ...
, the Jubilee Building was opened, adding purpose-built Accident & Emergency facilities and a plastic surgery unit, in November 2002. Following the transfer of the
Golden Jubilee Hospital The Golden Jubilee University National Hospital is a hospital in Clydebank, near Glasgow, Scotland. It was opened in 1994 and is managed by a Special Health Board appointed by NHS Scotland. History Site The site was once part of the William Be ...
(formerly the HCI Hospital) in Clydebank to public ownership, much of the cardiology specialism was moved from GRI to the newer facility.


Notable staff and research

In 1856,
Joseph Lister Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of ...
became an assistant surgeon at the Infirmary and a professor of surgery in 1860. Running the new surgery block, Lister noted that about half of his patients died from
sepsis Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...
. Lister experimented to find ways to prevent sepsis. This experimentation lead to using
carbolic acid Phenol (also called carbolic acid) is an aromaticity, aromatic organic compound with the molecular chemical formula, formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatility (chemistry), volatile. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () ...
to clean instruments; he is now considered the "father of modern surgery". In 1875, a student of Lister,
William Macewen Sir William Macewen, (; 22 June 1848 – 22 March 1924) was a Scottish surgeon. He was a pioneer in modern brain surgery, considered the ''father of neurosurgery'' and contributed to the development of bone graft surgery, the surgical treat ...
joined the Infirmary surgery as an assistant surgeon, becoming a full surgeon in 1877. While at the Infirmary he introduced the practice of doctors wearing sterilisable white coats and pioneered operations on the brain for tumours, abscesses and trauma. In 1896,
John Macintyre John Macintyre or Mcintyre FRSE (2 October 1857 – 29 October 1928) was a Scottish doctor who set up the world's first radiology department at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, in Glasgow.James Pringle, developed the
Pringle manoeuvre The Pringle manoeuvre is a surgical technique used in some abdominal operations and in liver trauma. The hepatoduodenal ligament is clamped either with a surgical tool called a haemostat, an umbilical tape or by hand. This limits blood inflow thr ...
which is used to control bleeding during liver surgery. In the 1950s Professor Ian Donald, working in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, was one of the pioneers of
diagnostic ultrasound Medical ultrasound includes diagnostic techniques (mainly imaging techniques) using ultrasound, as well as therapeutic applications of ultrasound. In diagnosis, it is used to create an image of internal body structures such as tendons, muscles ...
.


References


Further reading

* Blakemore, Colin; Jenneth, Sheila (2001). ''The Oxford Companion to the Body.'' Oxford University. . * Foreman, Carol (2003). ''Lost Glasgow.'' Birlinn. . * Jenkinson, Jacqueline (1994). ''The Royal: The History of Glasgow Royal Infirmary, 1794-1994'' Bicentenary Committee on behalf of Glasgow Royal Infirmary NHS Trust * Pittock, Murray G. H. (2003). ''A New History of Scotland.'' Sutton. . * Williams, David (1999). ''The Glasgow Guide.'' Birlinn.


External links


Engraving of Glasgow Infirmary
by
James Fittler James Fittler (October 1758, in London – 2 December 1835) was an English engraver of portraits and landscapes and an illustrator of books. He was appointed by King George III to be his marine engraver. Life Fittler was born in London in Octo ...
in the digitised copy o
Scotia Depicta, or the antiquities, castles, public buildings, noblemen and gentlemen's seats, cities, towns and picturesque scenery of Scotland
1804 at National Library of Scotland {{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1914 Hospitals in Glasgow NHS Scotland hospitals Teaching hospitals in Scotland 1794 establishments in Scotland James Miller buildings Category B listed buildings in Glasgow Listed hospital buildings in Scotland Hospitals established in 1794 Voluntary hospitals