Poet's plight inspired new care approach

THE Royal Edinburgh Hospital was created following the death of poet Robert Fergusson in 1774, whose depression was widely regarded then as being "insensible".

However, his doctor Andrew Duncan – after whom one of the clinics is now named – pitied the 24-year-old's plight and launched an appeal to open a hospital.

Eventually the facility was created in 1813, named the Edinburgh Lunatic Asylum at Craighouse – a sprawling landscape and smattering of buildings, now owned by Edinburgh Napier University.

Eventually the facility was renamed the Royal Edinburgh and is now based on a huge patch of land between George Watson's College and Morningside Road.

Over the years, the patients have integrated well into the community, which accepts their presence without stigma.

It has continued to provide new services as medicine and understanding of mental health has expanded and now also caters for children with behavioural problems and those with alcohol and drug addictions.