Bruntsfield Hospital - Expansion, Change and Closure

Expansion, Change and Closure

Financial and administrative amalgamation came in 1910, when a new hospital building was constructed in the grounds of the old 'Lodge' and officially opened by Queen Mary in 1911. The Hospice continued to care for mothers and babies, Bruntsfield took gynaecological, medical and surgical patients, and the dispensaries carried on as before. When the new Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital opened in 1925, there was a joint finance and executive committee for the two hospitals, but Bruntsfield Hospital had its own management and continued to have its own identity. In 1939 the Executive Committee adopted the familiar 'Bruntsfield Hospital' name in its formal title.

By 1948, when the hospital became part of the NHS Edinburgh Southern Hospital Group, there had been several additions including a children's ward and specialist facilities. The hospital had 80 beds, and some wards had verandahs overlooking the garden. It had built up a fully female staff with three resident medical officers and a range of consultants; the 1950s saw heated debate about the first appointments of male doctors to the staff. The hospital started to take in geriatric patients in the 1970s.

Reorganisation of the NHS in the 1980s led to the closure of Bruntsfield Hospital in 1989. Napier University hoped to use the buildings but the city council turned down their planning applications. In 1991 the exteriors of the Regency house and the 1910-11 annexe were given a Category B listing; three years later the site was developed for residential use.