Address Edinburgh, United Kingdom | ||
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Similar St John's Hospital - Livingston, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Western General Hospital, Royal Cornhill Hospital, Victoria Hospital | ||
The Royal Victoria Hospital is a care facility run by NHS Lothian in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is situated on Craigleith Road, near the Western General Hospital. It was formerly the main geriatric assessment and rehabilitation hospital for the north of Edinburgh. Although earmarked for closure in 2012, the health board reopened ward areas to ease pressure on acute beds in the region.
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History
The Victoria Hospital for Consumption was founded by Robert William Philip on the site at Craigleith in 1894. The existing Craigleith house was converted and a series of butterfly plan 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 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. It eventually had a 247-bed capacity when it was formerly the main geriatric assessment and rehabilitation hospital for the north of Edinburgh, clinical areas included a Medical Assessment/Rehabilitation Unit with 200 beds, and a Psychiatry of Old Age Unit with 47 beds. These were spread over nine wards.
Within the Medical Unit there was an Acute Assessment Ward, a two-ward Trauma Unit that specialised in falls and orthopaedic rehabilitation, a Parkinson’s Disease Unit, a rehabilitation ward with an interest in delirium, and a Stroke Rehabilitation Unit.
There was a Medical and Psychiatric (Orchard) Day Hospital on site and a busy medicine of the elderly out-patient department. A further medical day hospital service was provided at Leith Community Treatment Centre (CTC). Outpatient clinics took place at the Royal Victoria Hospital and Leith CTC.
In June 2012 the Medicine for the Elderly services were transferred from the Royal Victoria Hospital on to the new purpose built Royal Victoria Building at the Western General Hospital. The Royal Victoria Building is a new build with 100% single room accommodation, that also holds dermatology and rheumatology outpatient clinics relocated from other Lothian hospitals.
Reopening
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. By April 2014, it had been accommodating around 50 to 70 patients each week who had been unable to be discharged from hospital due to lack of appropriate social care.
The health board's ten-year plan includes demolition of the hospital.