Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh

The 'Sick Kids', Edinburgh

The Royal Hospital for Sick Children is a hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland, specialising in paediatric healthcare. It is commonly referred to simply as the Sick Kids. The hospital provides care for children from birth to around 13 years of age, including a specialist Accident and Emergency facility. The hospital is located on Sciennes Road in the Sciennes area of Edinburgh's South Side.

History

Royal Arms carving over the main entrance

The hospital opened in 1860, and received a royal charter in 1863, when it moved to the purpose-built Meadowside House.[1] In 1890 an outbreak of typhoid forced a temporary removal to Morningside, and Meadowside House was subsequently sold.[1] Plans for a new hospital were put in hand, to designs by George Washington Browne. The Sciennes Road building was opened on 31 October 1895 by Princess Beatrice.[2] The hospital celebrated its 150th birthday in 2010.

In 2005, NHS Lothian decided to develop plans to move the Sick Kids from its present site to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France on the south-east edge of the city. A business case for the project was approved by the Scottish Government in January 2012, with the new facility expected to open in mid-2017.[3] The new building at Little France will also accommodate the department of clinical neurosciences who will move across from the Western General Hospital and the department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) who will move from the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.[4] The new hospital will have 233 beds.[5] It will be built under the Scottish Futures Trust.[6]

Fundraising

In 2011, 6-year old Jack Henderson made the headlines by raising money for the hospital that cared for his brother, in exchange for drawings he had created. He originally planned to raise £100, but quickly raised £10,000.[7] A book, Jack Draws Anything, was published in October 2011.[8] After 3 years the fundraising total exceeded £64,000 and the project was brought to an end in June 2014.[9]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Royal Hospital for Sick Children History". NHS Lothian. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "Royal Hospital for Sick Children: listed building report". Historic Scotland. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  3. ↑ "Outline Business Case - Re-provision of RHSC and DCN at Little France". NHS Lothian. January 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  4. ↑ "New Edinburgh Sick Children's building gets go ahead". BBC News. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  5. ↑ "RHSC + DCN - Little France". NHS Lothian. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "New Edinburgh children's hospital plans unveiled". BBC News. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "Jack Henderson hits £10,000 for Sick Kids in Edinburgh". BBC News (Edinburgh, Fife & East Scotland). 4 April 2011. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  8. ↑ Sulieman, Cara (23 May 2011). "Jack Draws Anything: Six-year-old behind the website signs book deal". STV News. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "The end". Jack Draws Anything. Retrieved 17 July 2014.

External links

Coordinates: 55°56′18″N 3°11′20″W / 55.93833°N 3.18889°W