University Hospital Hairmyres

University Hospital Hairmyres is a district general hospital in the Hairmyres neighbourhood of East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The hospital serves one of the largest elderly populations in Scotland. It is managed by NHS Lanarkshire.

The first building on the site was the Lanarkshire Inebriate Reformatory, formally opened on 1 December 1904. Only a handful of patients received treatment over the years, and the Reformatory closed in February 1911. Lanarkshire County Council purchased a nearby farm and established a tuberculosis sanatorium and working farm colony. The Hairmyres site was well suited, being accessible from major centres of population, yet set in a hillside over 500 feet above sea level and with its own supply of fresh food. Building started in December 1914 and continued through the First World War, with local workmen being assisted by German prisoners of war. The Secretary for Scotland, Sir Robert Munro conducted the official opening on 14 June 1919. The new buildings were in a crescent formation, facing south for maximum exposure to sunlight. The buildings comprised a male, female and children's pavilion and an observation block. A two storey administration block contained the matron's and medical superintendent's offices, pharmacy, staff dining rooms and the matron's, nurses' and maids' living quarters. The former reformatory building was converted for use as a school. There were a total of 250 beds at Hairmyres. The farm colony gave practical training in outdoor occupations to the recuperating patients. The farm had a herd of tuberculin tested Ayrshire cows, supplying milk butter and a source of income from the sale of calves. There was also a poultry farm and a piggery. At the time of his admission he was writing his novel Nineteen Eighty Four. The staff, insisting that complete physical and mental rest was essential for effective treatment, confiscated his typewriter. With rest, his health improved to some extent but attempts to rest his badly affected lung by simple surgical procedures were not successful. He suffered severe side effects from his treatment, and although the disease was responding, it had to be stopped after fifty days. The remaining supplies of streptomycin were administered, with success, to two other patients.

On 5 July 1948 Hairmyres Hospital was transferred to the Western Regional Hospital Board, one of five regional boards created in Scotland under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947. In the years following the war, there was little investment in hospital buildings in Britain. Plans to upgrade Hairmyres to District General Hospital status were shelved. By 1950 the number of beds had fallen to 450, about two thirds of the number envisaged in the 1945 survey. The New Town of East Kilbride was established in 1947 within 1 mile (2 km) of Hairmyres Hospital, creating an increasing demand. The 1966 Lanarkshire Hospital Development Plan proposed two district hospitals in Lanarkshire, one in Motherwell and the other in Airdrie. There were no major development plans for Hairmyres. However, the hospital was to continue to have acute admitting facilities with "a functional relationship" with a Glasgow teaching hospital. This dependence was felt to be unsatisfactory by staff. Hairmyres had to wait until the establishment of Lanarkshire Health Board before any major redevelopment could begin. A new hospital, to be known as the University Hospital Hairmyres but known simply as "Hairmyres" by local residents, was procured under a private finance initiative contract in 1998. The new hospital buildings were built by the Kier Group at a cost of £67.5 million. Building work began in May 1998 and completed by February 2001. Services were moved into the new building in March 2001 and the hospital officially opened by Henry McLeish in September 2001. In April 2006 NHS Lanarkshire issued its 'Picture of Health' document suggested the downgrading to two consultant led A&E departments, with a choice between Monklands Hospital and Hairmyres Hospital for downgrading. The level two hospital would have a nurse led Minor Injuries Unit, along with planned surgery, full diagnostic/outpatient services and general medicine. Eventually, Monklands was earmarked for downgrading. This would have resulted in NHS Lanarkshire having consultant led accident and emergency departments only at Wishaw General Hospital and Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride. The decision to downgrade was widely criticised, with the former Home Secretary, John Reid MP, voicing his disapproval of the plans. In September 2006, the plan was approved by Lewis MacDonald, Deputy Health and Community Care minister. In May 2007, the Labour administration lost out to the Scottish National Party in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election and the decision was overturned by the new Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, Nicola Sturgeon. She demanded that NHS Lanarkshire find a way of keeping three fully functioning consultant led A+E departments in Lanarkshire. In 2009 NHS Lanarkshire developed seven possible combinations of keeping three A+E departments open; these were subsequently delivered for public scrutiny. In November 2017, NHS Lanarkshire renamed all three of its acute hospitals Hairmyres, Monklands and Wishaw General with the prefix 'University Hospital' to reflect their new university teaching status.

The hospital serves patients in the South Lanarkshire catchment area. It is one of three acute hospitals in NHS Lanarkshire. The hospital has 492 inpatient beds and 20 day beds, employing 2500 members of staff.