Gogarburn Hospital

Management 1922-1999; administration 1925-1998; finance 1923-1962; patients (bound records) c1914-1991; patients (unbound records) 1940s-1965

The Mental Deficiency and Lunacy (Scotland) Act of 1913 required District Boards of Lunacy to provide institutions for the mentally handicapped separate from asylums which henceforth concentrated on the treatment of the mentally ill. In 1924 the Edinburgh District Board of Control opened the Hospital on Gogarburn estate. In 1929 after the Local Government (Scotland) Act, the Edinburgh District Board of Control was disbanded and the administration of Gogarburn was transferred to the Public Health Committee and City Medical Officer of Health of Edinburgh Town Council. The hospital expanded steadily in the 1930s and subsequently it was used by all South East Scotland authorities. During World War II, it served as an emergency hospital. In 1948 it was transferred to the South Eastern Regional Hospital Board under its own Board of Management and continued to offer a regional service. In 1969 the Board of Management was disbanded and the Hospital transferred to the Board of Management of the Royal Edinburgh and Associated Hospitals and in 1974 it became part of the South Lothian District of Lothian Health Board, and subsequently part of the Mental Health Unit in 1986. The hospital closed in May 1999.

Chronological within record class

Public access to these records is governed by the UK Data Protection Act 1998, the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the latest version of the Scottish Government Records Management: NHS Code of Practice (Scotland). Whilst some records may be accessed freely by researchers, the aforementioned legislation and guidelines mean that records with sensitive information on named individuals may be closed to the public for a set time.

Where records are about named deceased adults, they will be open 75 years after the latest date in the record, on the next 01 January. Records about individuals below 18 years (living or deceased) or adults not proven to be deceased will be open 100 years after the latest date in the record, on the next 01 January. Further information on legislation and guidelines covering medical records can be found on the LHSA webpage (http://www.lhsa.lib.ed.ac.uk/).

LHSA can support the use of records closed to public access for legitimate clinical, historical and genealogical research purposes. Please contact the LHSA Archivist for more details regarding procedures on how you can apply for permission to view closed records. Telephone us on: 0131 650 3392 or email us at lhsa@ed.ac.uk

Ian Ramage, Gogarburn Hospital, February 1988

Compiled by Mike Barfoot and Jenny McDermott using existing handlists

Manual item-level descriptive list available

Records held within the National Health Service prior to transfer

No further accessions are expected

Public Health Department of the City of Edinburgh (LHB16)Public Health Department of the City of Edinburgh (LHB16)Royal Edinburgh and Associated Hospitals Board of Management (LHB14) Royal Edinburgh and Associated Hospitals Board of Management (LHB14) Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh Samaritan Society (GD2)Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh Samaritan Society (GD2)South Lothian District, Lothian Health Board (LHB28)