| Western General Hospital | |
|---|---|
| NHS Lothian | |
 Clock Tower at the Western General Hospital | |
  Shown in Edinburgh | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Coordinates | 55°57′44″N 3°14′06″W / 55.962142°N 3.234947°W |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | NHS Scotland |
| Type | General Hospital |
| Affiliated university | University of Edinburgh Medical School |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | Minor Injuries Unit only |
| Beds | 570 |
| History | |
| Opened | 1868 |
| Links | |
| Website | 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.[1][2]
The hospital was designed by Peddie and Kinnear and opened as the St. Cuthberts and Canongate Poorhouse in 1868, principally as a workhouse but also having some hospital functions.[3] It was later renamed Craigleith Poorhouse.[4][5] In 1915, during the First World War, the building was requisitioned by the War Office to create the 2nd Scottish General Hospital, a facility for the Royal Army Medical Corps to treat military casualties.[6] After returning to poorhouse use in 1920 it was converted fully to hospital use in 1927. A nurses' home was added in 1935 and a pathology block was completed in 1939.[5] It joined the National Health Service in 1948 and a new library was completed in 1979.[5]
The first Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre opened on the Western General Hospital site in 1996.[7]
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.[8]
A facility to treat young people with cancer aged 16 to 24 was opened in the Western General Hospital in December 2013.[9]
Buildings include:[10]
The hospital has over 700 beds including day beds.[11] Although the Western no longer has an Accident and Emergency department, a nurse-led minor injuries unit has been operating on the site since 1994.[12]
The hospital served as a base for the neurology and neurosurgery centre for south east Scotland ("Department of Clinical Neurosciences") [13] until the department moved to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary at Little France in 2020.[14]
There is a major national cancer research and treatment centre at the hospital which was refurbished in 2007.[15]
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