Royal Public Dispensary of Edinburgh

In the eighteenth century, as now, infirmaries and hospitals were expensive to set up and run. They allowed the growth of study and teaching but the throughput of patients was small and the costly institutions required heavy support from philanthropists. A cheaper and more extensive form of care was required and this was delivered in the form of the dispensary, the first of which in England was the General Dispensary in Aldersgate, London, set up in 1770.

Dispensaries were served in large degree by free student labour, and costs were kept down too through a high (working-class) patient turnover. Dispensaries would come to spread across Scotland's cities too, delivering medical advice and simple treatments.

...