Stracathro Hospital
| Stracathro Hospital | |
|---|---|
| NHS Tayside | |
 | |
| Geography | |
| Location | near Brechin, Angus, Scotland |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | NHS Scotland |
| Type | District Hospital |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | No |
| Links | |
| Website | http://www.nhstayside.scot.nhs.uk/patients/hospital/Stracathro/Stracathro.shtml |
| Lists | Hospitals in Scotland |
Stracathro Hospital is a General Hospital in Angus, Scotland. Established as a wartime Emergency Hospital Service facility, it became a District General Hospital and, since 2005 has been the site of the Scottish Regional Treatment Centre.
History
Stracathro Hospital was established in 1939 in the grounds of Stracathro House.[1] It was designed as an Emergency Medical Services Hospital, for military casualties of World War II. The single-storey wards could accommodate up to 1000 patients and the mansion house provided accommodation for staff.[1] The first patients were victims of an air raid on Montrose in 1940. These were followed by civilian casualties from English cities, including London, Birmingham and Coventry, and later by soldiers from all theatres of the war.[1] Long trains would deliver the wounded to Brechin station.[2] The hospital was one of seven temporary hospitals built in Scotland due to the War - Raigmore Hospital in Inverness being another.[3]
The hospital subsequently became a teaching hospital and later a rural general hospital, serving a population of about 110,230,[4] with specialised departments including orthopaedic surgery and a high-tech surgical appliance unit.
In 1998, almost overnight, emergency general surgery was moved to Ninewells Hospital.[4] This threatened the future of the hospital, and led to speculation over its closure. The Tayside Acute Services Review in 2001 recommended a new hospital in Angus.[4] An external review recommended continuation of some local services. The closure of the coronary care unit led to a paramedic-led thrombolysis service in the community.[4] Stracathro continues as a rural General Hospital for Angus, part of NHS Tayside.
In 2005, the Scottish Regional Treatment Centre was developed at Stracathro. This was a joint venture between the NHS and the private sector and included £15 million funding from the Scottish Executive.[1] The SRTC caters for NHS patients from Grampian, Tayside and Fife Health Boards.[4] Amicus Health, a subsidiary of General Healthcare Group, the UK's largest private hospital group, had contracts with Stracathro Hospital for 8000 episodes of elective surgery in orthopaedics, urology, general surgery and gastroenterology from 2006-9.[5]
The Susan Carnegie Centre opened on 5 December 2011 and currently houses three inpatient mental health units, a mental health day unit and associated supporting clinicians and staff (following the closure of Sunnyside Royal Hospital in Hillside, Montrose).
Stracathro House was sold in 2003 and has reverted to a private residence.[1]
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e "Stracathro Hospital". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
- ^ "Hospitals at War: Medical Care in Tayside 1939-45". University of Dundee. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
- ^ "THB 31 Bridge of Earn Hospital". archive Services Online Catalogue. University of Dundee. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
- ^ a b c d e Michael H Lyall (September 2005). "Stracathro Hospital: a new future for a rural hospital" (PDF). Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
- ^ "Netcare Briefing" (PDF). Keep Our NHS Public. 2006. Retrieved 17 October 2014.