Erskine Hospital
| Erskine | |
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Erskine Home
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| Geography | |
| Location | Erskine, Scotland |
| Coordinates | 55°55′02″N 4°28′40″W / 55.9171°N 4.4777°WCoordinates: 55°55′02″N 4°28′40″W / 55.9171°N 4.4777°W |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | Private |
| Funding | Charity |
| Hospital type | Veterans hospital |
| Patron | Prince Charles |
| History | |
| Founded | 1916 |
| Links | |
| Website | erskine |
Erskine is a facility in Erskine, Scotland, that provides long-term medical care for veterans of the British Armed Forces. The charity opened and established itself as Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers in 1916. Its name was then shortened to Erskine Hospital and then simply Erskine in later years. It was opened due to the need to treat the thousands of military personnel who lost their limbs in the First World War. The charity has gone on to offer help to British veterans of the First World War and every subsequent war. It has gone on to become the biggest ex-services facility in the country.
A need for a dedicated war hospital was apparent during the First World War, as hospitals were struggling to keep up with the demands of the many limbless soldiers and sailors returning from war. It was then thought that Scotland should have a large, modern war hospital to cope with these type of injuries. A charitable committee was formed after a meeting in Glasgow. Sir William Macewen, a chief surgeon, was at the forefront of pushing through the need for such a facility. He met with Sir Thomas Dunlop the Lord Provost of Glasgow, who was enthusiastic.
The next stage was to find a location for the hospital in the west of Scotland. After reviewing several sites it was decided that Erskine would be the location. Thomas Aikman, the owner of Erskine House, which is a mansion on the banks of the River Clyde, offered free use of his mansion and gardens for the period of the war and for 12 years after it was declared over. Then Sir John Reid, a charity committee member, bought the mansion house and gardens and gifted them to the charity. Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll agreed to become the patron of the hospital and within a few weeks the Scottish public had donated £100,000 towards the facility.
The hospital was opened on 10 October 1916 and had an official opening on 6 June 1917 with Princess Louise making an appearance.
Erskine's role has since expanded to meet the changing needs of war veterans. It now cares for all disabled ex-service people if their injuries were sustained during war. It also provides convalescent care for those recovering from illness. The Red Cross Convalescent Block was constructed in 1950 and by 1963 there were four new wards and a modern operating theatre known as Ross Wing. It was named in honour of Herbert M. Ross, who lost a leg while serving in the First World War.
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Wikipedia