Royal Edinburgh Hospital

At the Royal Edinburgh Hospital (REH), we recognise the link between improved mental health and access to the natural world.

The hospital sits on a 50.45 acre (20.5 hectare) site in Morningside Place, Edinburgh and is managed by NHS Lothian. It is an important asset and resource for the patients, staff and the local community. The REH has existed as a psychiatric hospital since 1813 and is an interesting collection of different aged buildings and scattered greenspaces. There is a vibrant Green Health programme at this site and the hospital community is involved in many different NHS Lothian Charity: Green Health activities.

REH was the first NHS site in Scotland to gain the Green Flag Award, highlighting the collaboration between hospital community (patients, staff and visitors) and Third Sector partners. We created a Green Health Management plan for the site.

Our Partners

As well as the NHS Lothian Grounds and Gardens team on site and the NHS Lothian Charity Green Health Manager, we work with Third Sector partners to achieve our strategic goals:

Cyrenians (who run the REH Community Gardens)
Volunteer Edinburgh (work with patient volunteers on many Green Health projects)
Artlink @ Glasshouses
SAMH

Other organisations who contribute to the REH community, but who aren’t based on site include: TCV, ELGT, Branching Out. Much of the work that is done by these partners on site is funded through NHS Lothian Charity or NHS Lothian/Royal Edinburgh Hospital and Associated Services (REAS).

Wildlife Gallery

If you have a nature photograph taken in the grounds of the hospital that you would like to see posted on our website, send it to us by email, (the maximum image size is 2MB) and we’ll add it to our Gallery.