Public Health Department of the City of Edinburgh
Scope and Contents
Management and administration 1865-1982; patients (bound and unbound records) 1908-1997
Dates
- Creation: 1865-1997
Language of Materials
English.
Conditions Governing Access
Normal 30, 75 and 100 year Scottish closure rules apply
Biographical / Historical
Edinburgh was the first Scottish local authority to appoint a Medical Officer of Health: Henry Duncan Littlejohn was appointed in 1862. Public health matters originally came under the Lord Provost's Committee of the Town Council. Following the Public Health (Scotland) Act of 1867, a Public Health Committee was set up by the Town Council in 1872. The Public Health Committee was responsible for sanitary matters and the control of infectious diseases. Its remit was gradually extended to cover in addition: the administration of municipal hospitals; maternity and child welfare; the control of venereal diseases; veterinary matters; food hygiene; environmental health; mental health services; health visiting and home nursing services. In 1948 the municipal hospitals became part of the National Health Service. Several more functions of the Health Department were transferred to the Lothian Health Board in 1974, and the Community Services and Communicable Diseases Division was formed to administer child health services, community health and nursing services, epidemiological and preventative services.
Extent
10 shelf metres: bound volumes, papers
Arrangement
Chronological within record class
Other Finding Aids
Manual item-level descriptive list available
Custodial History
Records held within the National Health Service and Edinburgh City Council prior to transfer
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Community Medicine Specialists Office, Western General Hospital, May 1983, and Community Services and Communicable Diseases, Johnstone Terrace, October 1983
Accruals
No further accessions are expected
Bibliography
- Title
- Public Health Department of the City of Edinburgh
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Lothian Health Services Archive Repository
Centre for Research Collections
Edinburgh University Library
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LJ Scotland
+44 (0)131 650 3392
lhsa@ed.ac.uk