Working at Astley Ainslie Hospital 1976-1980 and 1993-2007
The Astley Ainslie Hospital is a wonderful place to work in. Apart from the excellent staff from all quarters, the environment is so uplifting. I worked there as a Clinical Psychologist from 1976-1980 at the start of the new Rehabilitation service under Professor Cairns Aitken, although rehabilitation had been present on the site in many forms for many years. I returned in 1993 and later ran the Psychology Department and the Lothian Chronic Pain Service, also working in Cardiac Rehabilitation which we started in the 1970’s.
The AAH services are spread out around the site and it was a delight to be able to walk through the grounds en route to another building or service. The trees are magnificent, especially in the springtime when the prunus blossom is so abundant and provides quantities of pink snow. The maturity of the trees adds majesty to the site. I was once in a meeting with colleagues in the Cunningham Unit when we noticed a man in grubby clothes going in and out of the shrubbery. We thought we should investigate. He turned out to be someone doing a survey of the trees to look at what could have a protection order. I hope they are all protected. There is a magnificent sweet chestnut near St. Roques which I cycled past daily, always a delight at whatever season.
I returned in 1993 to find the Psychology Department housed in what was known as the huts. These were put up ‘temporarily’ during the war and have served a multitude of purposes since then. It was home to the Occupational Therapy Training School in the 1970’s and the home of Headway for very many years. Psychology had two of the arms of the huts. We were lucky to have a lot of space although the quality of the building left a lot to be desired. As we were sited in such a horticultural setting, the local wildlife found our building suitable for sharing. This necessitated unfortunately, rather frequent contact with pest control. We ran group sessions to the accompaniment of squirrels in the roof space, one of which put it’s head in to hear what was being said. The huts had a planked in space below floor level which a vixen found an ideal space to give birth to her cubs and bring them up. I often worked late to find the cubs playing on the grass outside my window. One year a swarm of bees decided that office of one of my colleagues was the best place for them, although not welcomed by our staff and patients! Other colleagues found that they could not leave any food in their desk drawer as on opening it one morning, a mouse peered out. After that they had to be careful to avoid the mousetrap when opening the drawer.
The huts were not in the best state of repair, although from the inside they looked fine. It did make working life interesting and I am sure rather different from the working environment at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. I really enjoyed working in the services at the Astley Ainslie, and most especially in the beautiful grounds. I hope that most of the essence of them can be retained for the community and those who move into the space in the future.
Nicola McNeill (Stuckey)
March 2021