Much like churches, there used to be much more need for hospitals in Glasgow - so much so that very end of the city had their own hospital to call their own - now many of those beautiful old buildings are lost to time.
Hospitals were built for different purposes - mental hospitals, hospitals for infectious disease, children’s hospitals and so on - this may seem novel to young Glaswegians today, who are used to mega hospitals like the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, but there were dozens of hospitals operating all over the city at any one time in Glasgow.
Historically, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow led the way in providing healthcare for the people of Glasgow since they were founded in 1599. They identified which areas of public health needed to be targeted, in which areas, and where hospitals needed to be built in the city. They established charities, medical institutions for education, charities and much more.
The way we provide care has changed massively, with the introduction of the National Health Service, medical technology advancing, and the complete upheaval of the administration of care, we were able to provide the same level of service with far fewer hospitals.
Architecturally, the loss for the city was massive - many of these hospitals were stunning, pillars of the community that served as cornerstones in the skyline. Today we wanted to look back at those old hospitals and their history.
Glaswegian doctors inside Glasgow hospitals were some of the very best in Scotland - the ultrasound was invented in a hospital here in Glasgow, you can read more about that through an article we wrote here.
We’ve also written a feature exclusively exploring the history of Rottenrow, the maternity hospital that brought so many Glaswegians into our fair city - you can read that article by clicking here.