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

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. 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, East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian areas. Its headquarters are at Waverley Gate, Edinburgh Services It is responsible for the ...

History

Royal Arms carving, Royal Victoria Hospital, Edinburgh

The hospital was established by

Robert William Philip Sir Robert William Philip (29 December 1857 – 25 January 1939) was a Scottish physician and pioneer in the treatment and control of tuberculosis. Life Philip was born in Govan on the 29 December 1857, the son of Margaret Josephine Roberts ...

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 of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

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 providing care for the unique health needs of older adults. The term ''geriatrics'' originates from the Greek language, Greek γέρων ''geron'' meaning "old man", and ιατ ...

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 ( alternatively spelt 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 Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

Unit, a rehabilitation ward with an interest in

delirium Delirium (also known as acute confusional state) is an organically caused decline from a previous baseline of mental function that develops over a short period of time, typically hours to days. Delirium is a syndrome encompassing disturbances in ...

, and a

Stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

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