The Royal Victoria Hospital was a health facility at Craigleith Road in the north-west of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland. It was formerly the main Medicine for the Older Adult assessment and rehabilitation hospital for the north of Edinburgh. It closed in 2012, then briefly reopened to ease pressure on acute beds in the region. The facility finally closed in early 2017 and was not in use when a fire caused damage to buildings in May 2017. It was managed by

NHS Lothian NHS Lothian is one of the 14 regions of NHS Scotland. It provides healthcare services in the City of Edinburgh (council area), City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian council areas. Its headquarters are at Mainpoint 102 West ...

History

The hospital was established by Robert William Philip on the site at Craigleith as the Victoria Hospital for Consumption in 1894. The existing Craigleith house was converted and a series of

butterfly plan A Butterfly plan, also known as a Double Suntrap plan, is a type of architectural plan in which two or more wings of a house are constructed at an angle to the core, usually at approximately 45 degrees to the wall of the core building. It was used ...

pavilions were erected. There were covered sheltered in the grounds and continuous open-window treatment was also administered. In 1904 it became the Royal Victoria Hospital for Consumption with

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

giving patronage. The pavilions were demolished in the late 20th century. In a 1968 a new purpose-built brick building was completed by Reiach, Hall and Partners. With a 247-bed capacity, it became the main

geriatric Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, is a medical specialty focused on addressing the unique health needs of older adults. The term ''geriatrics'' originates from the Greek γέρων ''geron'' meaning "old man", and ιατρός ''iatros'' mean ...

assessment and rehabilitation hospital for the north of Edinburgh. In June 2012 the Medicine for the Elderly services were transferred from the Royal Victoria Hospital to a new purpose-built facility known as the Royal Victoria Building at the

Western General Hospital The Western General Hospital (often abbreviated to simply ‘The Western General’) is a health facility at Craigleith, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Lothian. History The hospital was designed by Peddie and Kinnear and opened as ...

. Although the facility closed briefly in 2012, bed shortages elsewhere meant that the health board opted to continue providing services at this site. One ward reopened at the end of November and another a week later. By early 2013 the health board expected the facility to be in use for at least two further years. 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. The facility finally closed in early 2017 and was not in use when a fire caused damage to buildings in May 2017.

Services

Within the Medical Unit there was an Acute Assessment Ward, a two-ward Trauma Unit that specialised in falls and

orthopaedic Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

rehabilitation, a Parkinson’s Disease Unit, a rehabilitation ward with an interest in

delirium Delirium (formerly acute confusional state, an ambiguous term that is now discouraged) is a specific state of acute confusion attributable to the direct physiological consequence of a medical condition, effects of a psychoactive substance, or ...

, and a

Stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

Rehabilitation Unit.

References

External links

Royal Victoria Hospital
Official site

{{authority control Defunct hospitals in Scotland Hospitals in Edinburgh Hospital buildings completed in 2012 NHS Lothian Hospitals established in 1894 1894 establishments in Scotland Tuberculosis sanatoria in the United Kingdom