“the mortality which takes place among children, and in particular among the children of the poorer classes, calls for an immediate effort to alleviate so much suffering and avert so great a loss of life; and that for this purpose it is necessary that a suitable hospital be provided in some salubrious locality in or near Edinburgh.”
The Royal Edinburgh Hospital for Sick Children is celebrating its 165th anniversary this year. The mission of the hospital fulfilled the wishes of its founders, who were moved by the plight of sick children in mid-nineteenth century Edinburgh. The above statement of intent appears in the minutes of the Promoters for a Hospital for Sick Children in April 1859. The group formed in response to a series of letters published in the Scotsman in early 1859, which called for the establishment of a hospital where children could be treated separately from adults. Like the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, it was to be a voluntary hospital, financed through philanthropy and by attracting subscriptions from private donors and organisations. The promoters set about securing funding for the hospital, appointing staff and finding suitable premises. By the end of 1859, a house at 7 Lauriston Lane had been leased and was furnished with eight iron beds measuring five feet long by three feet, two inches wide, and four measuring four feet long by two feet, three inches wide. The first patient, Mary Sutherland aged 1 ¼ years was admitted on 15th February 1860 suffering from dentition of bronchitis (bronchitis brought on by teething). She was discharged and recovered on 18th October.
Meadowside House
It quickly became
apparent that the Lauriston Lane building could not accommodate the numbers of
children requiring treatment and, in 1861, the Contributors drew up plans to
acquire larger premises which would include more beds and a separate fever
ward. They instituted a building fund for which all sorts of fundraising
initiatives were created; the Ladies’ Committee held a bazaar over five nights
which added £1,300 to the appeal and Dinah Craik, the “accomplished authoress
of John
Halifax, Gentleman” lent her support which drew in many donations.
As a result, Meadowside House was purchased and refurbished for the sum of
£5,500. It opened in 1863 and, granted royal patronage by Queen Victoria,
became the Royal Edinburgh Hospital for Sick Children (REHSC). It had 40 beds
and the separate fever ward that had been hoped for. A further 30 beds were
added with the addition of a new wing in 1870.
Plewlands House & Sciennes Road
As
the demand continued to grow, and an outbreak of typhoid fever within the
hospital affected several members of staff and caused the death of a nurse, new
premises were once again sought. The Directors
decided to move the hospital to other premises while Meadowside House was
thoroughly examined. They managed to secure the lease of Morningside College at
Plewlands, where all the patients were moved to in 1890 whilst
a new, permanent site could be found.
By the 1890s, the hospital had a large network of contributors throughout Scotland and received subscriptions in the region of £7,000 to £8,000 each year. Companies, churches, and individuals all gave money whilst charity events such as dances and concerts continued to be held for the cause. In 1895, the former hospital premises at Sciennes Road were purpose built at a cost of nearly £50,000 and opened by Princess Beatrice.
Achievements
Dr Joseph Bell, on whom Sherlock Holmes was modelled, was the first surgeon to be appointed at the hospital in 1887 and remained there until he retired. He provided a new dimension to the hospital where previously there had been no surgical department. By 1892, the surgical wards were full of children injured in cart and tram accidents, but the largest number were treated as the result of joint disease, especially of the spine and hip.
The REHSC established a Department of Medical Electricity in 1897, only two years after the discovery of X-rays. In 1913, the Department for the Diseases of Ear, Nose and Throat in Childhood was opened, the only such ward in Britain at that time. Throughout its history it has had strong ties with the University of Edinburgh, working to develop the field of paediatrics and training students in this discipline. After the arrival of the NHS, the hospital continued to innovate: a new Ear, Nose and Throat operating theatre was built, the Department of Psychological Medicine was established and advances were seen in anaesthesia, transfusion and burns treatment. These innovations continued: in the 2000s, it installed a hi-tech baby pod (the first of its kind in Scotland) and was the first in Europe to fit a hi-tech operating system that allows more keyhole surgery.
The Future
The hospital moved from Sciennes to a new building at Little France, next to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, in July 2020, with all services transferred there by March 2021. On 5th July 2023, HRH The Princess Royal officially opened the RHCYP. There, it benefits from the most up-to-date technology, and the proximity of world-class facilities at the Royal Infirmary. After 165 years, the vision of the founders continues to flourish: a hospital providing the best care for the city’s sick children, and those from further afield.
LHSA Sources on the Royal Edinburgh Hospital for Sick Children
The following collections are recommended for research into the REHSC using LHSA material:
Royal Edinburgh Hospital for Sick Children
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