Hairmyres Hospital
Encyclopedia
Hairmyres Hospital is a busy district general hospital in East Kilbride
, South Lanarkshire
, Scotland
. The hospital serves one of the largest elderly populations in Scotland
.
(PFI) hospital
located in East Kilbride, Scotland. It was built by the Kier Group
and opened in September 2001.
Hairmyres Hospital serves approximately patient
s in the South Lanarkshire
catchment area. It is one of three acute hospitals in NHS Lanarkshire
. The hospital has 434 inpatient beds and 20 day beds. Services include 24-hour Accident and Emergency, General Medicine
, Oncology
, Psychiatry
, Care of the Elderly, General Surgery
, Orthopaedics, and Cardiothoracic Surgery
.
of more than 553,000 people living within the North and South Lanarkshire
local authority areas. There are three district general hospitals in the Health Board area - Hairmyres, Monklands
in Airdrie and Wishaw General Hospital
. Each hospital has an accident and emergency department
and provides a range of specialist medical and surgical services. Maternity
, gynaecology
and paediatric services are based at Wishaw General Hospital, with Ophthalmology
and cardiothoracic surgery centralised at Hairmyres.
Primary health care is provided in the community and includes general practitioners (GPs), dentists, pharmacists, health visitor
s and a wide range of health professionals. NHS Lanarkshire's primary care facilities include health centres and 17 community and day hospitals.
NHS Lanarkshire employs more than 12,000 staff.
admissions on two sites. The level two hospital would have a nurse-led minor injuries unit
, along with planned surgery
, full diagnostic/outpatient services and general medicine
.
At a stormy meeting held in Bell College, Hamilton
on June 27 a decision was made by Lanarkshire Health Board to downgrade Monklands Hospital to a level two hospital by a vote of 19 to 1. Local MSPs and MPs including the Home Secretary, Dr. John Reid
have vowed to contest this decision. The Board submitted the decisions to the Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care, Lewis Macdonald
MSP, for consideration and approval in June 2006. On 21 August 2006, Lewis Macdonald MSP ratified NHS Lanarkshire's "Picture of Health" proposals to a storm of protest from community groups and local politicians.
Monklands A&E Department was set for closure under plans introduced by the Scottish Labour
Government before the Scottish Election in 2007
. However, Nicola Sturgeon
, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
, overturned this decision when the Scottish National Party
came to power.
01355 585 000
Lanarkshire County Council purchased a nearby farm and established a tuberculosis
sanatorium and working farm colony. The Hairmyres site was well suited, being accessible from major centres of population, yet set in a hillside over 500 feet above sea level and with its own supply of fresh food. Building started in December 1914 and continued through the First World War, with local workmen being assisted by German prisoners of war. The Secretary for Scotland, Sir Robert Munro
conducted the official opening on 14 June 1919. The new buildings were in a crescent formation, facing south for maximum exposure to sunlight. They comprised a male, female and children's pavilion and an observation block. A two-storey administration block contained the matron's and medical superintendent's offices, pharmacy, staff dining rooms and the matron's, nurses' and maids' living quarters. The former reformatory building was converted for use as a school. There were a total of 250 beds at Hairmyres. The farm colony gave practical training in outdoor occupations to the recuperating patients. The farm had a herd of tuberculin-tested Ayrshire cows, supplying milk butter and a source of income from the sale of calves. There was also a poultry farm and a piggery.
During the 1930s the site was expanded to provide a 400 bed general hospital, including an orthopaedic department. By the end of the decade there was a new treatment block that included two operating theatres, a radiology department, two gymnasia and a new pharmacy. A new nurses' home was opened in 1937. In 1938 there were seven sisters, eight staff nurses, three assistant nurses and forty-one probationers.
In 1938, the government established an Emergency Medical Service (E.M.S.) for the expected influx of military and civilian casualties from the anticipated war with Germany. Hairmyres, with its rural location yet good road and rail links was considered an ideal site. Between April 1939 and January 1941 18 new huts were built, with wards containing nearly 400 new beds. A new ward in the old reformatory building, gave Hairmyres a total of 1,090 beds. The first major influx of war casualties came in 1940. Servicemen from Britain, France, Poland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia were patients, with a small number of wounded German and Italian prisoners of war. On 7 January 1942, a Canadian Orthopaedic Unit was established at Hairmyres. This unit, funded by the Canadian Red Cross, occupied wards 9, 10 and 11 and was run by Canadian nurses. Between 14 January 1942 and 18 September 1945, the unit admitted a total of 5,090 patients and carried out 2,347 operations. Post war, the Scottish Hospitals' Survey recommended that Hairmyres should continue as a general hospital with 750 beds, with a proportion of beds for treating tuberculosis and chest diseases.
Tuberculosis sanatoria
concentrated on therapy involving a nutritious diet, exposure to fresh air and sunshine and graduated physical exercise. The antibiotic, streptomycin
was discovered in the U.S.A. in 1942. It enabled previously ill patients to be made fit for surgery. The first patient to receive streptomycin in Scotland
, was author and journalist, George Orwell
. Orwell was admitted to Hairmyres on Christmas Eve 1946. At the time of his admission he was writing his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
. The staff, insisting that complete physical and mental rest was essential for effective treatment, confiscated his typewriter. With rest, his health improved to some extent but attempts to rest his badly affected lung by simple surgical procedures were not successful. He suffered severe side effects from his treatment, and although the disease was responding, it had to be stopped after fifty days. The remaining supplies of streptomycin were administered, with success, to two other patients. Orwell spent the remainder of his stay writing, walking in the grounds and playing croquet. In July 1947 he returned to his rented house on Jura
but his health gradually deteriorated and he moved to a sanatorium in the Cotswolds and died in January 1950 in University College Hospital
, London, aged 46.
On 5 July 1948 Hairmyres Hospital was transferred to the Western Regional Hospital Board, one of five regional boards created in Scotland under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947
. In the years following the war, there was little investment in hospital buildings in Britain. Plans to upgrade Hairmyres to District General Hospital status were shelved. By 1950 the number of beds had fallen to 450, about two-thirds of the number envisaged in the 1945 survey. The New Town
of East Kilbride
was established in 1947 within a mile of Hairmyres Hospital, creating an increasing demand. The 1966 Lanarkshire Hospital Development Plan proposed two district hospitals in Lanarkshire
, one in Motherwell and the other in Airdrie
. There were no major development plans for Hairmyres. However, the hospital was to continue to have acute admitting facilities with "a functional relationship" with a Glasgow teaching hospital. This dependence was felt to be unsatisfactory by staff. Hairmyres had to wait until the establishment of Lanarkshire Health Board before any major redevelopment could begin.
On 1 April 1974 the National Health Service (Scotland) Act (1972) created fifteen new health boards in place of regional boards, hospital boards of management, executive councils and local government health authorities. Over the following years, the new Lanarkshire Health Board transformed the status of Hairmyres to the advantage of the local community. During the 70's, 80's and 90's they invested in both staff and facilities. An increase in specialisation meant patients no longer had to travel to one of the Glasgow
teaching hospital
s for treatment. The board opened a new gymnasium, new clinical laboratories, a cardiac investigation and a bronchoscopy unit.
On 1 April 1994 Hairmyres Hospital acquired trust status and the redevelopment of the hospital on the ground behind the Nurses' Home began. The Hospital has now been totally rebuilt into a modern purpose built District General Hospital, with special expertise in Respiratory and Cardiac Care, and an expanded day-care/ambulatory surgery service. It has also built up new services, including Cardiac Catheterisation, Psychiatry and Elderly care.
East Kilbride
East Kilbride is a large suburban town in the South Lanarkshire council area, in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. Designated as Scotland's first new town in 1947, it forms part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation...
, South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The hospital serves one of the largest elderly populations in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
The Hospital
Hairmyres Hospital, simply known as "Hairmyres" by local residents, is a private finance initiativePrivate Finance Initiative
The private finance initiative is a way of creating "public–private partnerships" by funding public infrastructure projects with private capital...
(PFI) hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
located in East Kilbride, Scotland. It was built by the Kier Group
Kier Group
Kier Group plc is a construction, services and property group active in building and civil engineering, support services, public and private housebuilding, land development and the Private Finance Initiative...
and opened in September 2001.
Hairmyres Hospital serves approximately
Patient
A patient is any recipient of healthcare services. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, veterinarian, or other health care provider....
s in the South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages....
catchment area. It is one of three acute hospitals in NHS Lanarkshire
NHS Lanarkshire
NHS Lanarkshire is responsible for improving the health of more than 553,000 people living within the council areas of North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire in Scotland. NHS Lanarkshire employs approximately 12,000 staff...
. The hospital has 434 inpatient beds and 20 day beds. Services include 24-hour Accident and Emergency, General Medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, Oncology
Oncology
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with cancer...
, Psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
, Care of the Elderly, General Surgery
General surgery
General surgery, despite its name, is a surgical specialty that focuses on abdominal organs, e.g., intestines including esophagus, stomach, small bowel, colon, liver, pancreas, gallbladder and bile ducts, and often the thyroid gland . They also deal with diseases involving the skin, breast, soft...
, Orthopaedics, and Cardiothoracic Surgery
Cardiothoracic Surgery
Cardiothoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in surgical treatment of diseases affecting organs inside the thorax —generally treatment of conditions of the heart and lungs .-Cardiac / Thoracic:...
.
Wards
The wards, bed capacity and their specialities are:- Ward 1: Cardiology (20 beds)
- Ward 2: Acute Medical Receiving (20 beds)
- Ward 3: Surgical (65 beds)
- Ward 4: Acute Surgical (16 beds)
- Ward 5: Surgical (24 beds)
- Ward 6: Surgical (24 beds)
- Ward 7: Orthopaedic (20 beds)
- Ward 8: Orthopaedic (30 beds)
- Ward 9: Medical/Cardiology (28 beds)
- Ward 10: Diabetes/ Endocrinology (20 beds)
- Ward 11: Medical/ Gastroenterology (20 beds)
- Ward 12: Respiratory (24 beds)
- Ward 13: Acute Stroke Unit (24 beds)
- Ward 14: Care of the Elderly (24 beds)
- Ward 15: Continuing Care (10 beds) and Rehabilitation (20 beds)
- Ward 16: Rehabilitation (30 beds)
- Ward 18: Continuing Care (28 beds)
- Coronary Care Unit and Cardiac Catheter Lab beds
NHS Lanarkshire
NHS Lanarkshire is responsible for the healthHealth
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
of more than 553,000 people living within the North and South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages....
local authority areas. There are three district general hospitals in the Health Board area - Hairmyres, Monklands
Monklands Hospital
Monklands District General Hospital, is a district general hospital in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Administered by NHS Lanarkshire, it serves a population of approximately 260,000 people of North and South Lanarkshire council areas...
in Airdrie and Wishaw General Hospital
Wishaw General Hospital
Wishaw General Hospital is a district general hospital in the Craigneuk area of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire.-The Hospital:Wishaw General Hospital opened on 29 May 2001. It is a 633-bedded hospital, with the second-largest maternity unit in Scotland, delivering 5500 babies each year...
. Each hospital has an accident and emergency department
Emergency department
An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
and provides a range of specialist medical and surgical services. Maternity
Maternity
Maternity or motherhood is the social and legal acknowledgment of the parental relationship between a mother and her child.It is specially related with the protection of the baby and the mother within and after the childbirth.-See also:...
, gynaecology
Gynaecology
Gynaecology or gynecology is the medical practice dealing with the health of the female reproductive system . Literally, outside medicine, it means "the science of women"...
and paediatric services are based at Wishaw General Hospital, with Ophthalmology
Ophthalmology
Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in medical and surgical eye problems...
and cardiothoracic surgery centralised at Hairmyres.
Primary health care is provided in the community and includes general practitioners (GPs), dentists, pharmacists, health visitor
Health visitor
Health visitors are UK community health nurses who have undertaken further training to work as part of a primary health care team. As their name suggests, their role is to promote mental, physical and social well-being in the community by giving advice and support to families in all age groups...
s and a wide range of health professionals. NHS Lanarkshire's primary care facilities include health centres and 17 community and day hospitals.
NHS Lanarkshire employs more than 12,000 staff.
Acute Services Review
The centralisation of specialist services at the most appropriate site in Lanarkshire is an ongoing process. NHS Lanarkshire's "Picture of Health" document suggests the downgrading to two consultant-led A&E departments, with Wishaw being one of the level three hospitals. This would lead to the removal of the ITU, CCU and possibly other services, and the concentration of emergencyMedical emergency
A medical emergency is an injury or illness that is acute and poses an immediate risk to a person's life or long term health. These emergencies may require assistance from another person, who should ideally be suitably qualified to do so, although some of these emergencies can be dealt with by the...
admissions on two sites. The level two hospital would have a nurse-led minor injuries unit
Minor Injuries Unit
A minor injuries unit is a hospital department in the United Kingdom largely staffed by emergency nurse practitioners working autonomously who look after minor injuries such as lacerations and fractures, and have access to X-ray facilities. There is some consultant input in training and supervision...
, along with planned surgery
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
, full diagnostic/outpatient services and general medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
.
At a stormy meeting held in Bell College, Hamilton
Hamilton, South Lanarkshire
Hamilton is a town in South Lanarkshire, in the west-central Lowlands of Scotland. It serves as the main administrative centre of the South Lanarkshire council area. It is the fifth-biggest town in Scotland after Paisley, East Kilbride, Livingston and Cumbernauld...
on June 27 a decision was made by Lanarkshire Health Board to downgrade Monklands Hospital to a level two hospital by a vote of 19 to 1. Local MSPs and MPs including the Home Secretary, Dr. John Reid
John Reid (politician)
John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan, PC is a British politician, who served as a Labour Party Member of Parliament and cabinet minister under Tony Blair, most notably as Defence Secretary and then Home Secretary...
have vowed to contest this decision. The Board submitted the decisions to the Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care, Lewis Macdonald
Lewis Macdonald
Lewis Macdonald is a Scottish Labour regional list Member of the Scottish Parliament for North East Scotland, from 2011. He was MSP for the Aberdeen Central constituency from 1999 until 2011.-Background:...
MSP, for consideration and approval in June 2006. On 21 August 2006, Lewis Macdonald MSP ratified NHS Lanarkshire's "Picture of Health" proposals to a storm of protest from community groups and local politicians.
Monklands A&E Department was set for closure under plans introduced by the Scottish Labour
Scottish Labour Party
The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....
Government before the Scottish Election in 2007
Scottish Parliament election, 2007
The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999...
. However, Nicola Sturgeon
Nicola Sturgeon
Nicola Sturgeon is the Deputy First Minister of Scotland, Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy, Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party and Member for Glasgow Southside....
, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy, commonly referred to as the Health Secretary, is a cabinet position in the Scottish Government...
, overturned this decision when the Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
came to power.
01355 585 000
History
The first building on the site was the Lanarkshire Inebriate Reformatory, formally opened on 1 December 1904. Only a handful of patients received treatment over the years, and the Reformatory closed in February 1911.Lanarkshire County Council purchased a nearby farm and established a tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
sanatorium and working farm colony. The Hairmyres site was well suited, being accessible from major centres of population, yet set in a hillside over 500 feet above sea level and with its own supply of fresh food. Building started in December 1914 and continued through the First World War, with local workmen being assisted by German prisoners of war. The Secretary for Scotland, Sir Robert Munro
Robert Munro, 1st Baron Alness
Robert Munro, 1st Baron Alness GBE, PC, KC, DL was a Scottish lawyer, judge and Liberal politician. He served as Secretary for Scotland between 1916 and 1922 in David Lloyd George's coalition government and as Lord Justice Clerk between 1922 and 1933.-Background and education:Munro was born in...
conducted the official opening on 14 June 1919. The new buildings were in a crescent formation, facing south for maximum exposure to sunlight. They comprised a male, female and children's pavilion and an observation block. A two-storey administration block contained the matron's and medical superintendent's offices, pharmacy, staff dining rooms and the matron's, nurses' and maids' living quarters. The former reformatory building was converted for use as a school. There were a total of 250 beds at Hairmyres. The farm colony gave practical training in outdoor occupations to the recuperating patients. The farm had a herd of tuberculin-tested Ayrshire cows, supplying milk butter and a source of income from the sale of calves. There was also a poultry farm and a piggery.
During the 1930s the site was expanded to provide a 400 bed general hospital, including an orthopaedic department. By the end of the decade there was a new treatment block that included two operating theatres, a radiology department, two gymnasia and a new pharmacy. A new nurses' home was opened in 1937. In 1938 there were seven sisters, eight staff nurses, three assistant nurses and forty-one probationers.
In 1938, the government established an Emergency Medical Service (E.M.S.) for the expected influx of military and civilian casualties from the anticipated war with Germany. Hairmyres, with its rural location yet good road and rail links was considered an ideal site. Between April 1939 and January 1941 18 new huts were built, with wards containing nearly 400 new beds. A new ward in the old reformatory building, gave Hairmyres a total of 1,090 beds. The first major influx of war casualties came in 1940. Servicemen from Britain, France, Poland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia were patients, with a small number of wounded German and Italian prisoners of war. On 7 January 1942, a Canadian Orthopaedic Unit was established at Hairmyres. This unit, funded by the Canadian Red Cross, occupied wards 9, 10 and 11 and was run by Canadian nurses. Between 14 January 1942 and 18 September 1945, the unit admitted a total of 5,090 patients and carried out 2,347 operations. Post war, the Scottish Hospitals' Survey recommended that Hairmyres should continue as a general hospital with 750 beds, with a proportion of beds for treating tuberculosis and chest diseases.
Tuberculosis sanatoria
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
concentrated on therapy involving a nutritious diet, exposure to fresh air and sunshine and graduated physical exercise. The antibiotic, streptomycin
Streptomycin
Streptomycin is an antibiotic drug, the first of a class of drugs called aminoglycosides to be discovered, and was the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis. It is derived from the actinobacterium Streptomyces griseus. Streptomycin is a bactericidal antibiotic. Streptomycin cannot be given...
was discovered in the U.S.A. in 1942. It enabled previously ill patients to be made fit for surgery. The first patient to receive streptomycin in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, was author and journalist, George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
. Orwell was admitted to Hairmyres on Christmas Eve 1946. At the time of his admission he was writing his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
. The staff, insisting that complete physical and mental rest was essential for effective treatment, confiscated his typewriter. With rest, his health improved to some extent but attempts to rest his badly affected lung by simple surgical procedures were not successful. He suffered severe side effects from his treatment, and although the disease was responding, it had to be stopped after fifty days. The remaining supplies of streptomycin were administered, with success, to two other patients. Orwell spent the remainder of his stay writing, walking in the grounds and playing croquet. In July 1947 he returned to his rented house on Jura
Jura, Scotland
Jura is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, situated adjacent and to the north-east of Islay. Part of the island is designated as a National Scenic Area. Until the twentieth century Jura was dominated - and most of it was eventually owned - by the Campbell clan of Inveraray Castle on Loch...
but his health gradually deteriorated and he moved to a sanatorium in the Cotswolds and died in January 1950 in University College Hospital
University College Hospital
University College Hospital is a teaching hospital located in London, United Kingdom. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is closely associated with University College London ....
, London, aged 46.
On 5 July 1948 Hairmyres Hospital was transferred to the Western Regional Hospital Board, one of five regional boards created in Scotland under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947
National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947
The National Health Service Act 1947 came into effect on 5 July 1948 and created the National Health Service in Scotland. Though the title 'National Health Service' implies one health service for the United Kingdom, in reality one NHS was created for England and Wales, accountable to the Secretary...
. In the years following the war, there was little investment in hospital buildings in Britain. Plans to upgrade Hairmyres to District General Hospital status were shelved. By 1950 the number of beds had fallen to 450, about two-thirds of the number envisaged in the 1945 survey. The New Town
New towns in the United Kingdom
Below is a list of some of the new towns in the United Kingdom created under the various New Town Acts of the 20th century. Some earlier towns were developed as Garden Cities or overspill estates early in the twentieth century. The New Towns proper were planned to disperse population following the...
of East Kilbride
East Kilbride
East Kilbride is a large suburban town in the South Lanarkshire council area, in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. Designated as Scotland's first new town in 1947, it forms part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation...
was established in 1947 within a mile of Hairmyres Hospital, creating an increasing demand. The 1966 Lanarkshire Hospital Development Plan proposed two district hospitals in Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire or the County of Lanark ) is a Lieutenancy area, registration county and former local government county in the central Lowlands of Scotland...
, one in Motherwell and the other in Airdrie
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire
Airdrie is a town within North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on a plateau roughly 400 ft above sea level, and is approximately 12 miles east of Glasgow city centre. Airdrie forms part of a conurbation with its neighbour Coatbridge, in the former district known as the Monklands. As of 2006,...
. There were no major development plans for Hairmyres. However, the hospital was to continue to have acute admitting facilities with "a functional relationship" with a Glasgow teaching hospital. This dependence was felt to be unsatisfactory by staff. Hairmyres had to wait until the establishment of Lanarkshire Health Board before any major redevelopment could begin.
On 1 April 1974 the National Health Service (Scotland) Act (1972) created fifteen new health boards in place of regional boards, hospital boards of management, executive councils and local government health authorities. Over the following years, the new Lanarkshire Health Board transformed the status of Hairmyres to the advantage of the local community. During the 70's, 80's and 90's they invested in both staff and facilities. An increase in specialisation meant patients no longer had to travel to one of the Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
teaching hospital
Teaching hospital
A teaching hospital is a hospital that provides clinical education and training to future and current doctors, nurses, and other health professionals, in addition to delivering medical care to patients...
s for treatment. The board opened a new gymnasium, new clinical laboratories, a cardiac investigation and a bronchoscopy unit.
On 1 April 1994 Hairmyres Hospital acquired trust status and the redevelopment of the hospital on the ground behind the Nurses' Home began. The Hospital has now been totally rebuilt into a modern purpose built District General Hospital, with special expertise in Respiratory and Cardiac Care, and an expanded day-care/ambulatory surgery service. It has also built up new services, including Cardiac Catheterisation, Psychiatry and Elderly care.