This "Dispensary" service continued at Fountain Close until 1729 when it transferred to the new "Physicians’ Hospital or Infirmary for the Sick and Poor.

Edinburgh's public dispensary was founded in 1776 by Andrew Duncan and provided the impoverished in the city with free medical advice.

Patients attending the Dispensary received free medicines and advice and in return agreed to be demonstrations in Duncan's classes.

[4] The trustees of the Royal Dispensary donated their building at West Richmond Street and its remaining funds to the University of Edinburgh in 1963.

[4] The Royal Dispensary also endowed the first Chair of General Practice in the world, at the University of Edinburgh, to which Richard Scott was appointed later that year.