Minutes of Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh Board of Managers, 1728-1948

These minutes encompass the beginnings of the charitable hospital from 1728 through to the inception of the NHS in 1948. They record the Managers' administration of the Infirmary when it was run as a charitable institution. In addition to showing the day-to-day running of the Infirmary, they include rules and regulations, notes of staff appointments and of legacies and major contributions to the Infirmary. Until 1871 they include minutes of the General Court of Contributors, which from 1818 contain the Managers' annual report to the Contributors. Before this date, the minutes of the Court of Contributors only include a summary of the number of patients treated and of the accounts.

The Managers' Minutes also record the annual meetings of the Ordinary and Extraordinary Managers at which the election of the Ordinary Members (those responsible for the day-to-day running of the Infirmary) took place. From November 1869 the minutes of each meeting of Ordinary Managers normally includes a return of patient numbers. The frequency of meetings varies: in the eighteenth century the managers met approximately every month, with additional meetings as the need arose, from 1818 they generally met weekly and from 1910 fortnightly.