Care for their "hero sons"
In 1914 young men in the prime of life and with a true pride in their hearts rushed to volunteer to protect their country. To many, the First World War promised to be a great adventure. The reality was four years of horrific carnage. It soon became clear there were insufficient hospital facilities to care for those who were wounded in battle.
On October 10th, 1916, Erskine Hospital, then The Princess Louise
Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers was opened, thanks
to the generosity of the people of Scotland who rallied to raise the
money necessary to care for their "hero sons". Of the tens of thousands
of British veterans who were disabled in battle, one in five was
treated at Erskine.
The problem of the desperate shortage of artificial limbs caused by the
number of amputees returning from the war was resolved by the
hospital's first great surgeon, Sir William Macewen. He recruited the
skilled workers of the nearby Clydeside shipyards and soon the Erskine
limb had been devised and over 600 fitted. It was top quality work,
much of it done by the patients themselves.
Ongoing need
When Erskine first opened in 1916, no-one could have foreseen, and none would have wished for a continuing need for Erskine care in the 21st century. Sadly, conflicts such as the Falklands, the Gulf, Bosnia and Northern Ireland, Afghanistan and Iraq have continued to rage throughout the world. Erskine has continued to look after the men and women of our Armed Forces however, its facilities needed to change in order to meet their needs in the future.
The 21st century
To meet the needs of the ex-Service community, Erskine ran a high profile nationwide appeal for support to create a new care facility. The new building, no longer a hospital, would be a flagship for nursing of the future. It would be located within the grounds at Erskine, on the site of the former nursery gardens.
Following in the footsteps of his great, great aunt, Her Royal
Highness, The Princess Louise, His Royal Highness The Prince Charles,
Duke of Rothesay unveiled a commemorative plaque to declare the new £16
million centre of nursing care excellence open on 11th October 2000.
Six months previously, on 11th April, 2000, Her Royal Highness, The
Princess Royal, officially opened Erskine Mains Home, in the heart of
the town of Erskine. With 34 beds to meet the total capacity required
in the new build project, it heralded the completion of the first phase
of the Erskine 2000 strategy to replace the existing building and take
Erskine care Scotland-wide.
During the opening ceremony, Prince Charles concluded with the very
simple but poignant words which meant so much to everyone at Erskine:
"I am very proud of Erskine's strong tradition of caring."
HRH The Princess Royal opened Erskine Edinburgh in 2001, The Erskine Park Home in 2006 and The Erskine Glasgow Home in 2007.
Today Erskine is committed to looking after Scotland's ex-Service men
and women for as long as the need is there. An ongoing development
programme is in place to ensure that Erskine meets the needs of this
brave community in the future.
