Her Majesty's PrisonEdinburgh is located in the west of Edinburgh on the main A71, in an area now known as Stenhouse, and, although never named as such, has been popularly known as Saughton Prison from the old name for the general area. The prison is situated on the edge of a predominantly residential area and has good transport and road links to the city centre, which provides good access both for local courts and visitors to the prison. The building of the prison started on 31 July 1914 with the first prisoner being received in 1919. The prison currently consists of four halls; Glenesk, Hermiston, Ingliston and Ratho. Edinburgh receives prisoners from the courts in Edinburgh, the Lothians and the Borders. The prison holds adult male and no longer holds under-21 prisoners and also convicted prisoners serving under four years. The prison also holds a female population in its Ratho hall. Long-term prisoners and Young Offenders when sentenced are held at Edinburgh awaiting transfer to their prison of allocation. Edinburgh also provides a national facility for prisoners at the pre-release stage of their sentence.
Healthcare
As of 1 November 2011 healthcare is provided by the NHS. Previous to this it was provided through prison service employed nursing staff, with a GP and on call service provided by the healthcare staff provider. Lloyds Pharmacy currently supplies medication through daily deliveries.
Library
The prison library was the winner of the 2010 UK Libraries Change Lives Award for its work in promoting literacy among its incarcerated population, who typically have much lower literacy rates than the general population. Kate King, the librarian, was also named UK public library staff of the year in 2014.
Kenny Richey - Served 21 years on death row in Ohio, and spent 6 months at HMP Edinburgh before being found not guilty of Serious Assault to permanent disfigurement and was released on 8 March 2009.
