Rural general hospital
Encyclopedia
The rural general hospital is a concept unique to the National Health Service
in Scotland
. A rural general hospital is a small hospital, similar to a district general hospital, that serves an area which is remote and rural, generally with a small population
which would otherwise have a long or difficult journey to access secondary care.
These hospitals are all to be found in the Scottish Highlands and Islands
. Most provide Consultant
-led general surgical
services and many have Consultant-led general medical services also. A few hospitals have medical services provided by hospital practitioners, who are general practitioner
s with extra training. All the rural hospitals have maternity
services, generally provided by general practitioners and midwives, although some have Consultant-led services.
NHS Scotland
NHS Scotland is the publicly funded healthcare system of Scotland. Although they are separate bodies the organisational separation between NHS Scotland and the other three healthcare organisations each commonly called the National Health Service in the United Kingdom tends to be hidden from its...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. A rural general hospital is a small hospital, similar to a district general hospital, that serves an area which is remote and rural, generally with a small population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
which would otherwise have a long or difficult journey to access secondary care.
These hospitals are all to be found in the Scottish Highlands and Islands
Highlands and Islands
The Highlands and Islands of Scotland are broadly the Scottish Highlands plus Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides.The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 applied...
. Most provide Consultant
Consultant (medicine)
In the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, and parts of the Commonwealth, consultant is the title of a senior doctor who has completed all of his or her specialist training and been placed on the specialist register in their chosen specialty...
-led general surgical
General surgery
General surgery, despite its name, is a surgical specialty that focuses on abdominal organs, e.g., intestines including esophagus, stomach, small bowel, colon, liver, pancreas, gallbladder and bile ducts, and often the thyroid gland . They also deal with diseases involving the skin, breast, soft...
services and many have Consultant-led general medical services also. A few hospitals have medical services provided by hospital practitioners, who are general practitioner
General practitioner
A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...
s with extra training. All the rural hospitals have maternity
Maternity
Maternity or motherhood is the social and legal acknowledgment of the parental relationship between a mother and her child.It is specially related with the protection of the baby and the mother within and after the childbirth.-See also:...
services, generally provided by general practitioners and midwives, although some have Consultant-led services.
Rural General Hospitals
- Balfour HospitalBalfour HospitalBalfour Hospital is a rural general hospital in Kirkwall, run by NHS Orkney. It is the main hospital in the Orkney Islands.-History:Orkney's first hospital was established in October 1845, in what is today the Kirkwall West End Hotel...
, KirkwallKirkwallKirkwall is the biggest town and capital of Orkney, off the coast of northern mainland Scotland. The town is first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046 when it is recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty...
, Orkney - run by NHS OrkneyNHS OrkneyNHS Orkney is one of the fourteen regions of the NHS Scotland. It provides healthcare services in the Orkney area. NHS Orkney is headquartered in Garden House Kirkwall.It operates one hospital, Balfour Hospital, in Kirkwall.... - Belford HospitalBelford HospitalBelford Hospital, locally known as The Belford, is a rural general hospital in Fort William, Lochaber, Scotland. It is run by NHS Highland and Argyll....
, Fort William, LochaberLochaberDistrict of Lochaber 1975 to 1996Highland council area shown as one of the council areas of ScotlandLochaber is one of the 16 ward management areas of the Highland Council of Scotland and one of eight former local government districts of the two-tier Highland region...
- run by NHS HighlandNHS HighlandNHS Highland is one of the fourteen regions of NHS Scotland. Geographically, it is the largest Health Board, covering an area of 32,500 km² from Kintyre in the south-west to Caithness in the north-east, serving a population of 300,000 people... - Caithness General HospitalCaithness General HospitalCaithness General Hospital is an NHS Highland and Argyll hospital in Wick, Caithness, Highland, Scotland.In 2003 a review of maternity services by NHS Highland and Argyll raised the possibility that these services at Caithness General would be down-graded from obstetrician-led to midwife-led. This...
, WickWick, HighlandWick is an estuary town and a royal burgh in the north of the Highland council area of Scotland. Historically, it is one of two burghs within the county of Caithness, of which Wick was the county town. The town straddles the River Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay...
, CaithnessCaithnessCaithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...
- run by NHS Highland - Gilbert Bain HospitalGilbert Bain HospitalThe Gilbert Bain Hosptial is a rural general hospital in the burgh of Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland. It is one of two hospitals in Lerwick run by NHS Shetland....
, LerwickLerwickLerwick is the capital and main port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, located more than 100 miles off the north coast of mainland Scotland on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland...
, Shetland - run by NHS ShetlandNHS ShetlandNHS Shetland is one of the fourteen regions of NHS Scotland. It provides healthcare services in the Shetland area. NHS Shetland is headquartered in Brevik House, Lerwick.NHS Shetland operates two hospitals:*Gilbert Bain Hospital, Lerwick... - Mackinnon Memorial HospitalMackinnon Memorial HospitalThe Mackinnon Memorial Hospital, also known as Broadford Hospital, is intermediate between a rural general hospital and community hospital, located in the village of Broadford on the Isle of Skye. It is run by NHS Highland and Argyll...
, BroadfordBroadford, SkyeBroadford , together with nearby Harrapool, is the second-largest settlement on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, lying on the SW corner of Broadford Bay, on the A87 between Portree and the Skye Bridge....
, Isle of Skye - run by NHS Highland - Western Isles HospitalWestern Isles HospitalThe Western Isles Hospital is a rural general hospital in Stornoway on Lewis in the Western Isles of Scotland. It is run by NHS Western Isles, the local health board...
, StornowayStornowayStornoway is a burgh on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.The town's population is around 9,000, making it the largest settlement in the Western Isles and the third largest town in the Scottish Highlands after Inverness and Fort William...
, Isle of Lewis - run by NHS Western IslesNHS Western IslesNHS Western Isles, also known as Bòrd SSN nan Eilean Siar in Gaelic, is the health board serving the Western Isles of Scotland. It is one of the fourteen regions of NHS Scotland. NHS Western Isles is responsible for providing primary and secondary healthcare to the 26 000 people in the Outer...
Sometimes included
- Dr Gray's HospitalDr Gray's HospitalDr. Gray's Hospital is the smallest District General Hospital in Scotland. It is in Elgin, Moray, and is part of NHS Grampian. It is also part of the Moray Community Health and Social Care Partnership ....
, ElginElgin, MorayElgin is a former cathedral city and Royal Burgh in Moray, Scotland. It is the administrative and commercial centre for Moray. The town originated to the south of the River Lossie on the higher ground above the flood plain. Elgin is first documented in the Cartulary of Moray in 1190...
, MorayMorayMoray is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.- History :... - Lorn and Islands District General Hospital, ObanObanOban Oban Oban ( is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. It has a total resident population of 8,120. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William and during the tourist season the town can be crowded by up to 25,000 people. Oban...
, ArgyllArgyllArgyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...