User:Davidwright/sandbox

Origins
There was a hospital in Leith from 1614. The King James Hospital, in the Kirkgate, was named after King James the Sixth, then aged five, in whose name a charter was given to the hospital. The hospital was demolished in 1822, although part of the wall can still be seen today, forming the boundary between the Kirkgate and south Leith Kirkyard.

It was another 30 years before the establishment known as Leith Hospital opened. When it did so in 1851, it could trace its origins to three other institutions.

The Humane Society (later the Royal Humane Society) had started in London in 1774 with the aim of affording" immediate relief to persons apparently dead from drowning". Within a few years, Humane Society branches had opened all over Great Britain and in 1788 premises and equipment were provided in Leith, at first in Burgess Close and Bernard Street and then in Broad Wynd. The society aimed to resuscitate those who had fallen into the harbour waters. This was achieved in a number of different ways but principally by warming the victims in the premises, at a fire which was supposed to be kept constantly alight for the purpose.

The room also contained a bath where heating the patient could continue. Other techniques used included artificial ventilation of the lungs using bellows, mouth to mouth resuscitation and electric shock stimulation.

In 1816 a dispensary was opened, also in Broad Wynd, at number 17, a few doors along from the Humane Society room. Founded by Dr. Andrew Duncan, the dispensary consisted of a consulting room, a small laboratory and a single bed. There the citizens of Leith could be offered medicines and medical advice.

In 1825 the Humane Society and the dispensary combined, but despite this, they were still unable to meet the health needs of the growing population of Leith. Although they were able to offer vaccination for all children,  they could do little that was effective against the  infectious diseases to which Leith, as a busy seaport, was particularly vulnerable.

In 1837, the combined Humane Society and dispensary extended their activities by moving to a large house in Quality Street, now (Maritime Street), in what effectively became a Casualty Hospital. However, this arrangement was still far from ideal. Cramped, insanitary and understaffed, it proved inadequate for both staff and patients.

By the 1840s, Leith was an independent burgh of some 40,000 people and pressure increased to establish and fund a new hospital. A public meeting in 1846 was called, it was agreed that the new institution would be called "The Leith Hospital", a committee was formed and £115 was collected in subscriptions

Donations made towards the hospital included £1000 from the estate of  John Stewart of Laverockbank, but it was several years before agreement could be reached about the best site  and for work to start. In 1850, the year before the opening of the new hospital, the Dispensary had dealt with 2699 patients, the Casualty Hospital had treated 245 patients and the Humane Society seven patients.

The new hospital was built facing Mill Lane and was a two storey building, with fever patients housed on the upper floor and the Humane Society, dispensary and casualty on the ground floor. It opened to patients in  July 1851.