Royal Victoria Dispensary, Hospital and Tuberculosis Trust

Scope and Content

Management and administration 1891-1989; patients (unbound records) 1940s-1960s

Administrative / Biographical History

In 1887 Robert Willan Philip founded the Victoria Dispensary for Consumption and Diseases of the Chest, the first of its kind in the world. The Royal Victoria Hospital was founded in 1894, and Polton Farm Colony in 1910. Together with the Dispensary these formed the nucleus of the 'Edinburgh Scheme' for combating tuberculosis. In 1914, the Dispensary, Hospital and Farm Colony were given to the City of Edinburgh and the Royal Victoria Tuberculosis Trust was founded. These came under the management of the Royal Victoria and Associated Hospitals NHS Trust in 1948, and the North Lothian District of Lothian Health Board in 1974. The Royal Victoria Hospital is currently within Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Arrangement

Chronological within record class

Access Information

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

Acquisition Information

KPMG Peat Marwick, Chartered Accountants, Saltire Court, Edinburgh (formerly KPMG Peat Marwick McLintock)

Note

Compiled by Mike Barfoot and Jenny McDermott from uncatalogued material

Other Finding Aids

Manual item-level descriptive list available

Custodial History

Thomson McLintock and Company Chartered Accountants, 33/34 Charlotte Square, secretaries to the Royal Victoria Hospital TB Trust

Accruals

No further accessions are expected

Related Material

  • City Hospital (LHB23)
  • Edinburgh Royal Victoria and Associated Hospitals Board of Management (LHB10)
  • North Lothian District, Lothian Health Board (LHB27)
  • Public Health Department of the City of Edinburgh (LHB16)