Ninewells Hospital
Encyclopedia
Ninewells Hospital is one of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe, based on the western edge of Dundee
, Scotland
. It is internationally renowned for introducing laparoscopic surgery
to the UK as well as being a leading centre in developing fields such as the management of cancer
, medical genetics
and robotic surgery
. Within the UK, it is also a major NHS facility for psychosurgery
. The medical school
was ranked 1st in the UK in 2009. The hospital is administered under NHS Tayside
and also has nursing and research links with the University of Dundee
.
, founded in 1798, was replaced by Ninewells Hospital in 1973. The proposal for the new hospital was put forward in May 1960 and final permission was accepted by Parliament in February 1962. The first phase of the project was due to take 6 years at a cost of £9 million. Designed by Robert Matthew Johnson-Marshall
and partners, the protracted construction began in August 1964. The hospital was initially designed to hold 800 beds, and the ward units were planned on the 'race track' principal. The foundation stone was laid on 9th September 1965, by Baron Hughes of Hawkhill. The infirmary was built onto the side of a hill and the practicalities of the design were influenced by airport check in. Phase I of the building was completed in 1973, although some sections were not finished until 1975. The final cost was estimated as £25 million. Hospital admittances started in January 1974 and the hospital was officially opened by the Queen Mother
on 23 October 1974. At the opening ceremony, she stated "nothing that science can devise, nor money provide, will be lacking for the treatment of the patients".
The hospital site also contains the first building in Britain designed by architect Frank Gehry
, in conjunction with James F Stephen. The design was commissioned by Maggie's centres
, the cancer support organisation, for their third centre at the hospital and was officially opened on 25 September 2003 by Bob Geldof
.
Ten million pounds has been spent redesigning and overhauling the paediatric department of the hospital and, in June 2006, it was officially opened under the name Tayside Children's Hospital
.
The archives of the hospital are held by Archive Services, University of Dundee
.
The hospital has a team of anaesthetists on site 24 hours a day, and there are always at least two registered children's nurses on duty 24 hours a day in each children's ward. At the Maternity Unit in Ninewells, all newborn babies now have their hearing tested, with a dedicated hearing screener who carries out the tests to discover any problems as soon as possible after the baby is born.
The accident and emergency unit
deals with 55,000 admissions - including 3,500 broken bones, 150 heart attacks and 20,000 X-rays. In addition to the hospital, there is a teaching section that includes the Ninewells medical school
and the nursing school
of University of Dundee
. As such it was the second purpose built medical school in UK, and has garnered a reputation for excellence in academic research. In particular the hospital has one of the world's leading leukaemia research units.
is a children's hospital
located within Ninewells Hospital. It serves children, age from birth up until their fourteenth birthday, who live in Dundee, Angus, Perth and Kinross and north east Fife and, as such, it was so named after a region rather than a city to reflect the wide area that it covers.
The facility, which cost ten million pounds to fund, was formally opened on 7 June 2006 in a ceremony involving television celebrity
Fred MacAulay, University of Dundee
principal Sir Alan Langlands, nurses, doctors and young patients. The hospital combines medical services for children aged from prenatal to fourteen years of age with research departments specialising in paediatrics, and was financed by NHS
and Dundee University funds and with money raised by various children's charity
organisations. The major driver behind TICH was the professor of Child Health Richard Olver, who spent a considerable period of his latter years in post campaigning for funds from charities and the public sector.
Included within the hospital are Ward 29 (the children's medical ward), Ward 30 (the children's surgical ward), Ward 40 (the neonatal unit), a high dependency unit, the maternity
department, children's surgical rooms, a children's outpatient clinic, an ambulatory bay and a Maternal and Child Health clinic. There are also an outdoor play area/garden and an indoor play centre, which also houses an area that provides entertainment equipment aimed specifically at adolescents, as well as Ronald McDonald suites for families to reside in while their child is hospitalised. Clinical research into conditions such as cystic fibrosis
, asthma
, diabetes, prematurity, etc is conducted at the unit in the hopes of developing further treatments and better enable medication trials that would normally only be offered to adults.
The idea of a children's hospital in Dundee had been considered since 1995 but, although the children's wards under went major upgrading, Tayside Children's Hospital is more accurately described as being a children's unit within an adult hospital. It holds the term 'children's hospital' purely due to the research department and to better justify the closure of the children's ward and special baby care unit at Perth Royal Infirmary
. The money intended for an actual children's hospital was instead diverted to the reconstruction of Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital
.
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It is internationally renowned for introducing laparoscopic surgery
Laparoscopic surgery
Laparoscopic surgery, also called minimally invasive surgery , bandaid surgery, or keyhole surgery, is a modern surgical technique in which operations in the abdomen are performed through small incisions as opposed to the larger incisions needed in laparotomy.Keyhole surgery makes use of images...
to the UK as well as being a leading centre in developing fields such as the management of cancer
Management of cancer
Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, monoclonal antibody therapy or other methods. The choice of therapy depends upon the location and grade of the tumor and the stage of the disease, as well as the general state of the patient...
, medical genetics
Medical genetics
Medical genetics is the specialty of medicine that involves the diagnosis and management of hereditary disorders. Medical genetics differs from Human genetics in that human genetics is a field of scientific research that may or may not apply to medicine, but medical genetics refers to the...
and robotic surgery
Robotic surgery
Robotic surgery, computer-assisted surgery, and robotically-assisted surgery are terms for technological developments that use robotic systems to aid in surgical procedures....
. Within the UK, it is also a major NHS facility for psychosurgery
Psychosurgery
Psychosurgery, also called neurosurgery for mental disorder , is the neurosurgical treatment of mental disorder. Psychosurgery has always been a controversial medical field. The modern history of psychosurgery begins in the 1880s under the Swiss psychiatrist Gottlieb Burckhardt...
. The medical school
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
was ranked 1st in the UK in 2009. The hospital is administered under NHS Tayside
NHS Tayside
NHS Tayside is one of the fourteen regions of NHS Scotland. It provides healthcare services in the Angus, City of Dundee and Perth and Kinross areas. NHS Tayside is headquartered in Clepington Road, Dundee...
and also has nursing and research links with the University of Dundee
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....
.
History
Dundee Royal InfirmaryDundee Royal Infirmary
Dundee Royal Infirmary, often shortened to DRI was a major teaching hospital in Dundee, Scotland. Until the opening of Ninewells Hospital in 1974, Dundee Royal Infirmary was Dundee’s main hospital...
, founded in 1798, was replaced by Ninewells Hospital in 1973. The proposal for the new hospital was put forward in May 1960 and final permission was accepted by Parliament in February 1962. The first phase of the project was due to take 6 years at a cost of £9 million. Designed by Robert Matthew Johnson-Marshall
RMJM
RMJM is an international architectural practice founded in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1956 by architects Robert Matthew and Stirrat Johnson-Marshall. The first offices of the practice were its headquarters in Edinburgh, and another in London...
and partners, the protracted construction began in August 1964. The hospital was initially designed to hold 800 beds, and the ward units were planned on the 'race track' principal. The foundation stone was laid on 9th September 1965, by Baron Hughes of Hawkhill. The infirmary was built onto the side of a hill and the practicalities of the design were influenced by airport check in. Phase I of the building was completed in 1973, although some sections were not finished until 1975. The final cost was estimated as £25 million. Hospital admittances started in January 1974 and the hospital was officially opened by the Queen Mother
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
on 23 October 1974. At the opening ceremony, she stated "nothing that science can devise, nor money provide, will be lacking for the treatment of the patients".
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...
, in conjunction with James F Stephen. The design was commissioned by Maggie's centres
Maggie's centres
Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres are a network of drop-in centres in Great Britain, whichaim to help anyone who has been affected by cancer. They are not intended as a replacement for conventional cancer therapy, but as a caring environment that can provide support, information and practical advice...
, the cancer support organisation, for their third centre at the hospital and was officially opened on 25 September 2003 by Bob Geldof
Bob Geldof
Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...
.
Ten million pounds has been spent redesigning and overhauling the paediatric department of the hospital and, in June 2006, it was officially opened under the name Tayside Children's Hospital
Tayside Children's Hospital
Tayside Children's Hospital is a children's hospital in Dundee, Scotland and is attached to Ninewells Hospital. It serves children, age from birth up until their fourteenth birthday, who live in Dundee, Angus, Perth and Kinross and north east Fife and, as such, it was so named after a region rather...
.
The archives of the hospital are held by Archive Services, University of Dundee
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....
.
The modern hospital
The hospital currently has just under 1000 acute beds and a 31-bed medical assessment unit. The hospital has two MRI scanners and a CT scanner available, which can be operated 24 hours a day, including weekends. The hospital provides services in accident and emergency, critical care, lung and colorectal cancer, palliative care and most medical and surgical specialties.The hospital has a team of anaesthetists on site 24 hours a day, and there are always at least two registered children's nurses on duty 24 hours a day in each children's ward. At the Maternity Unit in Ninewells, all newborn babies now have their hearing tested, with a dedicated hearing screener who carries out the tests to discover any problems as soon as possible after the baby is born.
The accident and emergency unit
Emergency department
An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
deals with 55,000 admissions - including 3,500 broken bones, 150 heart attacks and 20,000 X-rays. In addition to the hospital, there is a teaching section that includes the Ninewells medical school
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
and the nursing school
Nursing school
A nursing school is a type of educational institution, or part thereof, providing education and training to become a fully qualified nurse. The nature of nursing education and nursing qualifications varies considerably across the world.-United Kingdom:...
of University of Dundee
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....
. As such it was the second purpose built medical school in UK, and has garnered a reputation for excellence in academic research. In particular the hospital has one of the world's leading leukaemia research units.
Tayside Children's Hospital
Tayside Children's HospitalTayside Children's Hospital
Tayside Children's Hospital is a children's hospital in Dundee, Scotland and is attached to Ninewells Hospital. It serves children, age from birth up until their fourteenth birthday, who live in Dundee, Angus, Perth and Kinross and north east Fife and, as such, it was so named after a region rather...
is a children's hospital
Children's hospital
A children's hospital is a hospital which offers its services exclusively to children . The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th century, as pediatric medical and surgical specialties separated from internal medicine and adult surgical specialties...
located within Ninewells Hospital. It serves children, age from birth up until their fourteenth birthday, who live in Dundee, Angus, Perth and Kinross and north east Fife and, as such, it was so named after a region rather than a city to reflect the wide area that it covers.
The facility, which cost ten million pounds to fund, was formally opened on 7 June 2006 in a ceremony involving television celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
Fred MacAulay, University of Dundee
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....
principal Sir Alan Langlands, nurses, doctors and young patients. The hospital combines medical services for children aged from prenatal to fourteen years of age with research departments specialising in paediatrics, and was financed by NHS
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
and Dundee University funds and with money raised by various children's charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
organisations. The major driver behind TICH was the professor of Child Health Richard Olver, who spent a considerable period of his latter years in post campaigning for funds from charities and the public sector.
Included within the hospital are Ward 29 (the children's medical ward), Ward 30 (the children's surgical ward), Ward 40 (the neonatal unit), a high dependency unit, the maternity
Maternity
Maternity or motherhood is the social and legal acknowledgment of the parental relationship between a mother and her child.It is specially related with the protection of the baby and the mother within and after the childbirth.-See also:...
department, children's surgical rooms, a children's outpatient clinic, an ambulatory bay and a Maternal and Child Health clinic. There are also an outdoor play area/garden and an indoor play centre, which also houses an area that provides entertainment equipment aimed specifically at adolescents, as well as Ronald McDonald suites for families to reside in while their child is hospitalised. Clinical research into conditions such as cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease affecting most critically the lungs, and also the pancreas, liver, and intestine...
, asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
, diabetes, prematurity, etc is conducted at the unit in the hopes of developing further treatments and better enable medication trials that would normally only be offered to adults.
The idea of a children's hospital in Dundee had been considered since 1995 but, although the children's wards under went major upgrading, Tayside Children's Hospital is more accurately described as being a children's unit within an adult hospital. It holds the term 'children's hospital' purely due to the research department and to better justify the closure of the children's ward and special baby care unit at Perth Royal Infirmary
Perth Royal Infirmary
Perth Royal Infirmary is a district hospital in Perth. The Royal Infirmary, administered by NHS Tayside, caters for both the city and wider Perth & Kinross area, with a population around 182 000, being served by the hospital.-History:...
. The money intended for an actual children's hospital was instead diverted to the reconstruction of Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital
Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital
The Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital or RACH is a children's hospital in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is situated on the Foresterhill site, with the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Aberdeen Maternity Hospital...
.