Editing East Ayrshire (section)

===Health Care===
{{further|NHS Ayrshire and Arran|NHS Scotland}} 
[[File:University Hospital Crosshouse entrance.jpg|thumb|right|[[University Hospital Crosshouse]], outside Kilmarnock, is the regions largest hospital]]

Health care in East Ayrshire is provided by [[NHS Ayrshire and Arran]], one of the fourteen regions of [[NHS Scotland]]. The health boards main, and largest, hospital is [[University Hospital Crosshouse]] located between the village of [[Crosshouse]] and the administrative town of East Ayrshire, Kilmarnock. Other NHS Ayrshire and Arran hospitals within East Ayrshire include [[East Ayrshire Community Hospital]] in Cumnock, and the former [[Kirklandside Hospital]] in [[Hurlford]].

Work on University Hospital Crosshouse, which was commissioned to replace the [[Kilmarnock Infirmary]], began on the site in August 1972 with completion expected in May 1977.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1980/dec/09/north-ayrshire-district-general-hospital|title=North Ayrshire District General Hospital|publisher=Hansard|date=9 December 1980|access-date=22 January 2019}}</ref> The contractor, [[Melville Dundas|Melville Dundas & Whitson]], encountered difficulties with the water supply and ventilation systems<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19781129&id=8QI-AAAAIBAJ&pg=5506,6657982&hl=en|title=Board told to reject faulty £10m hospital|publisher=The Glasgow Herald |date=29 November 1978|access-date=20 September 2015}}</ref> and the facility was only officially opened by [[George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie|George Younger]], [[Secretary of State for Scotland]], as Crosshouse Hospital in June 1984.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nhsaaa.net/media/5486/dialogue-2-issue-1.pdf|page=6|title=Happy Birthday NHSpublisher=Dialogue 2.0|access-date=22 January 2019}}</ref> A new maternity unit, which replaced a similar facility at [[Ayrshire Central Hospital]] in [[Irvine, North Ayrshire|Irvine]] was opened in the grounds of the hospital in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/stillbirth-rate-ayrshire-maternity-unit-2440471|title=Stillbirth rate at Ayrshire maternity unit rises|date=13 February 2009|publisher=Daily Record|access-date=20 January 2019}}</ref> In March 2012, the hospital officially became University Hospital Crosshouse as a result of a partnership with the [[University of the West of Scotland]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/anger-as-hospitals-are-given-new-names-out-of-the-blue.16777036 |title=Anger as hospitals are given new names 'out of the blue' |last=Wilson |first=Caroline |work=[[Evening Times]] |date=20 February 2012 |access-date=9 July 2014}}</ref>

[[Kirklandside Hospital]], in neighbouring village [[Hurlford]] closed between 2018 and 2020. Kirklandside hospital provided consultant-led services for frail elderly patients. It had 25 long-stay beds for inpatient care and a [[day hospital]] which provided assessment and rehabilitation facilities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nhsaaa.net/hospitals-and-health-centres/kirklandside-hospital.aspx |title=Kirklandside Hospital |publisher=[[NHS Ayrshire and Arran]] |accessdate=9 July 2014}}</ref>

East Ayrshire is served by a number of [[general practice]] (GP) surgeries under NHS Scotland and a variety of other healthcare services including dental treatment and pharmacies.