The Astley Ainslie Hospital is a

community hospital A community hospital can be purely a nominal designation or have a more specific meaning. When specific, it refers to a hospital that is accessible to the general public, and provides a general or specific medical care which is usually short-term, ...

in The Grange,

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 Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It is operated by

NHS Lothian NHS Lothian is one of the 14 regions of NHS Scotland. It provides healthcare services in the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian areas. Its headquarters are at Waverley Gate, Edinburgh Services It is responsible for the ...

History

Astley Ainslie Hospital, Canaan Park - geograph

David Ainslie, who died in 1900, left £800,000 for the purpose of building and endowing a hospital or institution for convalescents from the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He wanted it to be called the Astley Ainslie Institution. The hospital opened with 34 beds in 1923. The landscaping of the grounds was executed by Roland Edgar Cooper, just prior to his becoming Head Curator of the

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

. The site may have had a medical connection since the 1500s. Pavilions were added to the east and west in 1929 and a nurses' home was completed in 1930. 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. In the 1950s, Colonel John Fraser, while medical superintendent at the hospital, built a collection of ecclesiastical stones, some bearing initials and dates, into a specially constructed stone panel in the south boundary wall of his residence, South Bank. The Charles Bell children's pavilion was completed in 1965 and the Cunningham Unit (a day centre and outpatient clinic) was completed in 1971. A disabled living centre followed in 1979 and the Balfour Pavilion for older people was completed in 1983. In 2007 the hospital became the home of the Southeast Mobility and Rehabilitation Technology Centre ("SMART Centre"): the centre was designed to house clinical, technical, office and storage facilities for a range of rehabilitation services. The centre provides 4,000 m² of space and cost £7.5 million to construct, incorporating a number of environmentally friendly features. In 2014, the health board considered proposals to demolish the hospital and three others, with a view to replacing these facilities with care villages which would consist of buildings more suited to social care. By 2021, the 17-hectare (42-acre) campus site was proposed for sale in the late 2020s, provided funding could be obtained for replacement facilities at the

Royal Edinburgh Hospital The Royal Edinburgh Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Morningside Place, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Lothian. History The "foundational myth" has it that the hospital was founded by Dr Andrew Duncan, the elder, Andrew Duncan ...

. The value of the wooded parkland, that is open to the public, was recognised by the local

health board. The Astley Ainslie Community Trust was set up to campaign to protect the trees in the site. Members of the trust include

Ian Rankin Sir Ian James Rankin (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels. Early life Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel, worked in a schoo ...

. The two thousand trees include some that are unusual in the UK such as

Atlas cedar ''Cedrus atlantica'', the Atlas cedar, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae, native to the Rif and Atlas Mountains of Morocco (Middle Atlas, High Atlas), and to the Tell Atlas in Algeria.Gaussen, H. (1964). Genre ''Cedrus''. Les F ...

, wellingtonia,

cedar of Lebanon ''Cedrus libani'', the cedar of Lebanon or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of tree in the genus cedrus, a part of the pine family, native to the mountains of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. It is a large evergreen conifer that has great religi ...

deodar cedar ''Cedrus deodara'', the deodar cedar, Himalayan cedar, or deodar, is a species of cedar native to the Himalayas. Description It is a large evergreen coniferous tree reaching tall, exceptionally with a trunk up to in diameter. It has a conic c ...

, Bhutan pine and

Monterey cypress ''Hesperocyparis macrocarpa'' is a coniferous tree. It is commonly known as the Monterey cypress and is one of several species of cypress trees endemic to California. The Monterey cypress is found naturally only on the Central Coast of Califor ...

as well as many more common species of oaks, firs, cherry and chestnuts. Some are protected with tree preservation orders.

Services

The hospital specialises in rehabilitative care for people who have suffered brain injuries, stroke, orthopaedic or cardiac conditions and respite care for elderly people.

References

{{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1923 Hospitals in Edinburgh NHS Scotland hospitals NHS Lothian 1923 establishments in Scotland