Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary | |
---|---|
NHS Dumfries and Galloway | |
Geography | |
Location | Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland |
Coordinates | 55°03′38″N 3°39′22″W / 55.0605°N 3.6561°W |
Organisation | |
Care system | NHS Scotland |
Type | General |
Services | |
Emergency department | Yes |
Beds | 344 [1] |
Links | |
Website |
www |
Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary is the main hospital in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The hospital is managed by NHS Dumfries and Galloway.
The hospital has its origins in a small facility at Mill Hole in Burns Street in central Dumfries which opened as the Dumfries Infirmary in 1776. [2]
The hospital moved to High Dock in 1778 before becoming the Dumfries and Galloway Infirmary in 1785 and the Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary in 1807. [2] Dr William Scott administered sulphuric ether, in the first use of anesthetics in the United Kingdom, at the High Dock facility in 1846. [3] The High Dock facility has since been demolished. [3]
The hospital relocated to a new building at Nithbank which was designed by John Starforth, completed in 1873 and was extended in 1897. [2] The hospital joined the National Health Service in 1948. [2] The old Nithbank facility was subsequently used to accommodate the offices of NHS Dumfries and Galloway. [4]
The hospital moved again this time to a facility at Bankend Road, which was designed by Boswell, Mitchell & Johnston and opened by the Queen in 1975. [5] A cancer care centre was opened by Princess Alexandra in 2003. [5] The old Bankend Road facility continues to be used as the Mountainhall Treatment Centre. [6]
In 2012 it was announced that a new 350-bed hospital would be built on the A75 close to the Garroch roundabout. [7] It was procured under a Private Finance Initiative contract in March 2015. [8] The hospital was designed by Ryder Architecture and NBBJ [9] and built by Laing O'Rourke [8] at a cost of £213 million. [10] The new hospital was officially opened by the Princess Royal in July 2018. [11]
The hospital serves the town of Dumfries and the catchment area of South West Scotland with a population of c.150,000. [12] It is made up entirely of single rooms, 344 of them, each with a computer point to allow real-time updating of patient records. [1]
The hospital is a supporter of The Princess Royal Trust for Carers. [13]