Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh

The Royal Hospital for Sick Children is a hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland, specialising in paediatric healthcare. Locally, it is commonly referred to simply as the Sick Kids. The hospital provides care for children from birth to around 13 years of age, including a specialist Accident and Emergency facility. The hospital is located on Sciennes Road in the Sciennes area of Edinburgh's South Side.HistoryThe hospital opened in 1860 at 7 Lauriston Lane and was the first dedicated children's hospital in Scotland. It received a royal charter in 1863, when it moved to the Meadowside House. The conversion of the house into a hospital was carried out by the architect David Macgibbon. In 1890 an outbreak of typhoid forced a temporary removal to Plewlands House, Morningside, and Meadowside House was subsequently sold. The site of the Trades Maiden Hospital (established by Mary Erskine) at Rillbank was bought in the early 1890s, and plans for a new hospital were put in hand to designs by George Washington Browne. The Sciennes Road building cost £50,000 was opened on 31 October 1895 by Princess Beatrice. In 1948, the hospital became part of the South Eastern Regional Hospital Board, and between 1974 and 1984 it was part of the District of Lothian Health Board. At present it is part of Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust. The hospital celebrated its 150th birthday in 2010.