Ellen's Glen House is a community-based hospital which was built to provide services to elderly and mentally ill patients in Liberton, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Lothian.[1] In 2025, as result of the closure of the neighbouring Liberton Hospital, it is planned to move the hospital at home service and the medical day hospital from Liberton to Ellen's Glen.[2] As a consequence mental health patients have been moved elsewhere and the number of frail elderly inpatient beds is being reduced from 27 to nine.
The hospital has its origins in Southfield House, a building situated near Ellen's Glen nature reserve,[3] which was designed by John Chesser in the Scottish baronial style.[4] It opened as a tuberculosis sanatorium in 1875 and became part of the Royal Victoria Hospital in the 1920s.[5][6] Plans of the original house, and later alterations by Dick, Peddie and MacKay, are held by Historic Environment Scotland and viewed via trove.scot.[4]
A new hospital, which was commissioned to replace the Southfield House facility, was procured under a Private Finance Initiative contract in February 1999.[7] It was built by James Walker (Leith) Limited just to the north of Southfield House at a cost of £2.65million and opened as Ellen's Glen House from January 2000.[7]
Services
The hospital provided services to elderly and mentally ill patients in a two-floor building with 60 staffed beds set in extensive accessible gardens.[8][9] The services included frail adult complex clinical care and palliative care; according to inspection reports stays range from a few weeks to a number of years.[10][11]
As neighbouring Liberton Hospital is to close in 2025, the Hospital at Home and Medical Day hospital is being relocated to Ellen's Glen Hospital. There is a planned reduction in frail elderly inpatient bed numbers from 27 to nine. Frail elderly Hawthorn ward patients are to be transitioned to community settings (hospices, care homes and their own homes) in line with the strategic vision for health and social care.[2][12][13] Thistle ward psychiatric patients have been moved to other Lothian NHS complex clinical care facilities.[14]
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