The Astley Ainslie Hospital is a

community hospital A community hospital can be purely a nominal designation or have a more specific meaning. When specific, it refers to a hospital that is accessible to the general public and provides a general or specific medical care which is usually short-term, i ...

in The Grange,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is operated by

NHS Lothian NHS Lothian is one of the 14 regions of NHS Scotland. It provides healthcare services in the City of Edinburgh (council area), City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian council areas. Its headquarters are at Mainpoint 102 West ...

History

David Ainslie, who died in 1900, left £800,000 for the purpose of building and endowing a hospital or institution for convalescents from the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He wanted it to be called the Astley Ainslie Institution. The hospital opened with 34 beds in 1923. The landscaping of the grounds was executed by Roland Edgar Cooper, just prior to his becoming Head Curator of the

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

. The site may have had a medical connection since the 1500s. Pavilions were added to the east and west in 1929 and a nurses' home was completed in 1930. The hospital joined the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

in 1948. In the 1950s, Colonel John Fraser, while medical superintendent at the hospital, built a collection of ecclesiastical stones, some bearing initials and dates, into a specially constructed stone panel in the south boundary wall of his residence, South Bank. The Charles Bell children's pavilion was completed in 1965 and the Cunningham Unit (a day centre and outpatient clinic) was completed in 1971. A disabled living centre followed in 1979 and the Balfour Pavilion for older people was completed in 1983. In 2007 the hospital became the home of the Southeast Mobility and Rehabilitation Technology Centre ("SMART Centre"): the centre was designed to house clinical, technical, office and storage facilities for a range of rehabilitation services. The centre provides 4,000 m² of space and cost £7.5 million to construct, incorporating a number of environmentally friendly features. In 2014, the health board considered proposals to demolish the hospital and three others, with a view to replacing these facilities with care villages which would consist of buildings more suited to social care. By 2021, the campus site was proposed for sale in the late 2020s, provided funding could be obtained for replacement facilities at the

Royal Edinburgh Hospital The Royal Edinburgh Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Morningside Place, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Lothian. History The "foundational myth" has it that the hospital was founded by Dr Andrew Duncan, following the death of ...

. The value of the wooded parkland, that is open to the public, was recognised by the local

health board. The Astley Ainslie Community Trust was set up to campaign to protect the trees in the site. Members of the trust include

Ian Rankin Sir Ian James Rankin (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer and philanthropist, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels. Early life Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel ...

. The two thousand trees include some that are unusual in the UK such as

Atlas cedar ''Cedrus atlantica'', the Atlas cedar, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae, native to the Rif and Atlas Mountains of Morocco ( Middle Atlas, High Atlas), and to the Tell Atlas in Algeria.Gaussen, H. (1964). Genre ''Cedrus''. Les ...

, wellingtonia,

cedar of Lebanon ''Cedrus libani'', commonly known as cedar of Lebanon, Lebanon cedar, or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of large evergreen conifer in the genus ''Cedrus'', which belongs to the pine family and is native to the mountains of the Eastern Medite ...

deodar cedar ''Cedrus deodara'', the deodar cedar, Himalayan cedar, or deodar, is a species of Cedrus, cedar native to the Himalayas. Description It is a large evergreen coniferous tree reaching tall, exceptionally with a trunk up to in diameter. It has a ...

, Bhutan pine and

Monterey cypress ''Hesperocyparis macrocarpa'' also known as ''Cupressus macrocarpa'', or the Monterey cypress is a coniferous tree, and is one of several species of cypress trees native to California. The Monterey cypress is found naturally only on the Centr ...

as well as many more common species of oaks, firs, cherry and chestnuts. Some are protected with

tree preservation order A tree preservation order (TPO) is a part of town and country planning in the United Kingdom. A TPO is made by a local planning authority (usually a local council) to protect specific trees or a particular area, group or woodland from deliberate d ...

Services

The hospital specialises in rehabilitative care for people who have suffered brain injuries, stroke, orthopaedic or cardiac conditions and respite care for elderly people.

References

{{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1923 Hospitals in Edinburgh NHS Scotland hospitals NHS Lothian 1923 establishments in Scotland