.jpg)
Recent from talks
Dundee Royal Infirmary
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Dundee Royal Infirmary
Dundee Royal Infirmary, often shortened to DRI, was a major teaching hospital in Dundee, Scotland. Until the opening of Ninewells Hospital in 1974, Dundee Royal Infirmary was Dundee's main hospital. It was closed in 1998, after 200 years of operation.
Dundee Royal Infirmary's origins lay in a voluntary dispensary founded in Dundee by Dr Robert Stewart and the local minister Robert Small in 1782, building on a similar venture started in 1735. In 1793, it was proposed that an infirmary for indoor patients should be founded. This proposal was realised when the Dundee Infirmary was opened in King Street on 11 March 1798, just under four years after its foundation stone had been laid, with the cost of the building being £1,400. At first, this building housed 56 beds, but it was expanded by the addition of wings between 1825 and 1827 which raised its capacity to 120 beds. The infirmary was granted a royal charter by George III in 1819, after which it became known as the "Dundee Royal Infirmary and Asylum". In 1820, the asylum was formally established as a separate entity in its own premises in Albert Street, and the hospital gained its official title of "Dundee Royal Infirmary", although locals would often simply refer to it as "the DRI". After the granting of its own royal charter in 1875, the Asylum became Dundee Royal Lunatic Asylum. It moved outside the town to Liff in 1882 and eventually evolved into Royal Dundee Liff Hospital.
When opened in 1798 the infirmary had two physicians, Sir Alexander Douglas and Dr John Willison and seven visiting surgeons who rotated on a monthly basis. The surgical department included Mr John Crichton who remained associated with the hospital until 1860. The first nurse at the hospital was Mrs Farquharson. The first matron was Mrs Jane Sandeman appointed in 1837 (prior to that the matron's duties had been filled by the housekeeper-matron). Another founding member of staff was Thomas Nicoll, who had been appointed apothecary in 1796.
Despite the extensions of the 1820s, the expanding population of Dundee and lack of bed space meant that the King Street premises were no longer adequate by the middle of the nineteenth century. As a result, in 1852, building started on a new site in Barrack Road, with the foundation stone being laid by the Duke of Atholl. This new building was completed and opened in February 1855 when the last patients were transferred from the old building. Located near Dudhope Castle, the new home of the infirmary was a large neo-Elizabethan construct with a central gatehouse comparable to that of an Oxbridge College. Designed by the London architects Messrs Coe and Goodwin, the building, which later historians described as being 'a striking addition to Dundee's skyline', proved to be more expensive to build than anticipated, with the £14,000 raised for the project by public subscription failing to cover the building costs. On top of this the Normandy stone around the building's windows proved unable to cope with the climate and within thirty years had to be replaced at a cost of around £5,000. The new building was originally built to accommodate 220 patients, but it was extended several times as the hospital expanded its services, including the addition of new children's wards and facilities for out patients. Following the opening of the new building, the King Street building was turned into model lodgings.
Originally fever patients had been treated in ordinary wards at DRI, but as awareness of the need for isolation to prevent the spread of contagious disease grew during the nineteenth century, this practice ceased. In the 1860s and 1870s smallpox and typhus patients were treated in wooden pavilions at other sites and this ultimately led to the opening of a separate hospital for infectious diseases at King's Cross in 1889.
Further royal charters were granted in 1877 and 1898. The former charter was granted on the occasion of the opening of a convalescent home connected with the hospital at 31 Strathmore Street, Barnhill which had been endowed by the philanthropist Sir David Baxter, (this was not connected to the similarly named Dundee Convalescent Hospital). The Convalescent Home, which was finally demolished in 1971, could hold up to 84 patients and was part of a 7-acre site. The site was then acquired by the East of Scotland Housing Association and is now occupied by Fettercairn Drive and Stracathro Terrace. Prior to the creation of the National Health Service, the infirmary depended heavily on the generosity of wealthy benefactors such as the aforementioned Sir David Baxter and other textile magnates including Peter Carmichael of Arthurstone and James Key Caird. Donations from Caird provided the hospital with cancer and maternity facilities.
In 1892, an ophthalmic department was established at the infirmary. This included two four-bed wards for treating patients from the Dundee Eye Institution. The Eye Institution had been set up in 1836 to provide free ophthalmic treatment, but originally sent patients to Edinburgh and Glasgow for operations. From 1910 DRI also ran the Sidlaw Sanatorium at Auchterhouse which had opened in 1902 to treat Tuberculosis patients. Later known as Sidlaw Hospital, it closed in 1980 and had in its latter days served as a convalescent home and was also to provide respite care.
During World War I, part of the Infirmary was requisitioned for use as a military hospital. At this time Dundee had a time gun, which was fired daily at 1pm, located in the grounds of the nearby Dudhope Castle. As the Infirmary was treating soldiers suffering from shell-shock, the gun ceased to be used in 1916. The running of the hospital was taken over by the newly formed National Health Service on 5 July 1948 and along with other hospitals in the area it was placed under the control of the newly formed Dundee General Hospitals Board of Management. A specialist Neurosurgery Department was set up in the 1960s by Joseph Block and Ivan Jacobson, who pioneered the use of advanced neuro-surgical techniques at the hospital, and officially opened in 1966. In the 1970s, the hospital became one of the first in the United Kingdom to acquire a CAT scan head scanner, when it did so under Jacobson's guidance. Neurosurgery in Dundee would remain at the Royal Infirmary, only being transferred to Ninewells when DRI closed. When Ninewells opened in 1974, DRI remained as the principal emergency centre for Dundee, with the expectation that this, and other functions it retained, would be moved at a later date when additional facilities were developed on the Ninewells site.
Hub AI
Dundee Royal Infirmary AI simulator
(@Dundee Royal Infirmary_simulator)
Dundee Royal Infirmary
Dundee Royal Infirmary, often shortened to DRI, was a major teaching hospital in Dundee, Scotland. Until the opening of Ninewells Hospital in 1974, Dundee Royal Infirmary was Dundee's main hospital. It was closed in 1998, after 200 years of operation.
Dundee Royal Infirmary's origins lay in a voluntary dispensary founded in Dundee by Dr Robert Stewart and the local minister Robert Small in 1782, building on a similar venture started in 1735. In 1793, it was proposed that an infirmary for indoor patients should be founded. This proposal was realised when the Dundee Infirmary was opened in King Street on 11 March 1798, just under four years after its foundation stone had been laid, with the cost of the building being £1,400. At first, this building housed 56 beds, but it was expanded by the addition of wings between 1825 and 1827 which raised its capacity to 120 beds. The infirmary was granted a royal charter by George III in 1819, after which it became known as the "Dundee Royal Infirmary and Asylum". In 1820, the asylum was formally established as a separate entity in its own premises in Albert Street, and the hospital gained its official title of "Dundee Royal Infirmary", although locals would often simply refer to it as "the DRI". After the granting of its own royal charter in 1875, the Asylum became Dundee Royal Lunatic Asylum. It moved outside the town to Liff in 1882 and eventually evolved into Royal Dundee Liff Hospital.
When opened in 1798 the infirmary had two physicians, Sir Alexander Douglas and Dr John Willison and seven visiting surgeons who rotated on a monthly basis. The surgical department included Mr John Crichton who remained associated with the hospital until 1860. The first nurse at the hospital was Mrs Farquharson. The first matron was Mrs Jane Sandeman appointed in 1837 (prior to that the matron's duties had been filled by the housekeeper-matron). Another founding member of staff was Thomas Nicoll, who had been appointed apothecary in 1796.
Despite the extensions of the 1820s, the expanding population of Dundee and lack of bed space meant that the King Street premises were no longer adequate by the middle of the nineteenth century. As a result, in 1852, building started on a new site in Barrack Road, with the foundation stone being laid by the Duke of Atholl. This new building was completed and opened in February 1855 when the last patients were transferred from the old building. Located near Dudhope Castle, the new home of the infirmary was a large neo-Elizabethan construct with a central gatehouse comparable to that of an Oxbridge College. Designed by the London architects Messrs Coe and Goodwin, the building, which later historians described as being 'a striking addition to Dundee's skyline', proved to be more expensive to build than anticipated, with the £14,000 raised for the project by public subscription failing to cover the building costs. On top of this the Normandy stone around the building's windows proved unable to cope with the climate and within thirty years had to be replaced at a cost of around £5,000. The new building was originally built to accommodate 220 patients, but it was extended several times as the hospital expanded its services, including the addition of new children's wards and facilities for out patients. Following the opening of the new building, the King Street building was turned into model lodgings.
Originally fever patients had been treated in ordinary wards at DRI, but as awareness of the need for isolation to prevent the spread of contagious disease grew during the nineteenth century, this practice ceased. In the 1860s and 1870s smallpox and typhus patients were treated in wooden pavilions at other sites and this ultimately led to the opening of a separate hospital for infectious diseases at King's Cross in 1889.
Further royal charters were granted in 1877 and 1898. The former charter was granted on the occasion of the opening of a convalescent home connected with the hospital at 31 Strathmore Street, Barnhill which had been endowed by the philanthropist Sir David Baxter, (this was not connected to the similarly named Dundee Convalescent Hospital). The Convalescent Home, which was finally demolished in 1971, could hold up to 84 patients and was part of a 7-acre site. The site was then acquired by the East of Scotland Housing Association and is now occupied by Fettercairn Drive and Stracathro Terrace. Prior to the creation of the National Health Service, the infirmary depended heavily on the generosity of wealthy benefactors such as the aforementioned Sir David Baxter and other textile magnates including Peter Carmichael of Arthurstone and James Key Caird. Donations from Caird provided the hospital with cancer and maternity facilities.
In 1892, an ophthalmic department was established at the infirmary. This included two four-bed wards for treating patients from the Dundee Eye Institution. The Eye Institution had been set up in 1836 to provide free ophthalmic treatment, but originally sent patients to Edinburgh and Glasgow for operations. From 1910 DRI also ran the Sidlaw Sanatorium at Auchterhouse which had opened in 1902 to treat Tuberculosis patients. Later known as Sidlaw Hospital, it closed in 1980 and had in its latter days served as a convalescent home and was also to provide respite care.
During World War I, part of the Infirmary was requisitioned for use as a military hospital. At this time Dundee had a time gun, which was fired daily at 1pm, located in the grounds of the nearby Dudhope Castle. As the Infirmary was treating soldiers suffering from shell-shock, the gun ceased to be used in 1916. The running of the hospital was taken over by the newly formed National Health Service on 5 July 1948 and along with other hospitals in the area it was placed under the control of the newly formed Dundee General Hospitals Board of Management. A specialist Neurosurgery Department was set up in the 1960s by Joseph Block and Ivan Jacobson, who pioneered the use of advanced neuro-surgical techniques at the hospital, and officially opened in 1966. In the 1970s, the hospital became one of the first in the United Kingdom to acquire a CAT scan head scanner, when it did so under Jacobson's guidance. Neurosurgery in Dundee would remain at the Royal Infirmary, only being transferred to Ninewells when DRI closed. When Ninewells opened in 1974, DRI remained as the principal emergency centre for Dundee, with the expectation that this, and other functions it retained, would be moved at a later date when additional facilities were developed on the Ninewells site.
Recent media