Wishaw General Hospital is a district general hospital in the Craigneuk

Craigneuk

Craigneuk is a suburb of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The original village of Craigneuk was located in the area where Meadowhead Road meets Glasgow Road. It was originally part of Dalziel parish along with the other rural weaving villages of Flemington, Windmillhill and Motherwell....

 area of Wishaw

Wishaw

Wishaw is a large town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is on the edge of the Clyde Valley, 15 miles south-east of Glasgow....

, North Lanarkshire

North Lanarkshire

North Lanarkshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. It borders onto the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains much of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also borders Stirling, Falkirk, East Dunbartonshire, West Lothian and South Lanarkshire...

.

The Hospital

Wishaw General Hospital opened on 29 May 2001. It is a 633-bedded hospital, with the second-largest maternity unit 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...

, delivering 5500 babies each year. The hospital has a paediatric neonatal unit, an MRI scanner, elderly care and psychiatric day hospitals, and an emergency care unit containing an integrated 24-hour accident and emergency unit with 36-bed ward.

The hospital is just 11 miles from Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, the largest city in Scotland, that lies to the north-west of Wishaw.

Design and construction

The hospital was designed by Percy Thomas Partnership

Percy Thomas Partnership

Percy Thomas Partnership was a trading name of the award-winning British architectural practice originally set up by Percy Thomas in Cardiff, Wales in 1911/12. Percy Thomas and his practice put their name to a number of landmark buildings in the United Kingdom including the Wales Millennium...

 as part of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI)

Private Finance Initiative

The private finance initiative is a way of creating "public–private partnerships" by funding public infrastructure projects with private capital...

 project led by Summit Healthcare. Construction started on site in November 1998 and was completed in February 2001.

Population

Wishaw General Hospital serves neighbouring towns of Motherwell

Motherwell

Motherwell is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, south east of Glasgow. The name "Moderwelt" appears on a map of Lanarkshire made by Timothy Pont some time between 1583 and 1611 and printed in the Netherlands in around 1652, although the settlement was probably little more...

, Newmains

Newmains

-External links:* *...

 and Shotts

Shotts

Shotts is a small rural town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located almost halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh . As of the 2001 census, the population was 8,235...

, serving over 250,000 in NHS Lanarkshire

NHS Lanarkshire

NHS Lanarkshire is responsible for improving the health of more than 553,000 people living within the council areas of North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire in Scotland. NHS Lanarkshire employs approximately 12,000 staff...

. It is one of three acute hospitals in NHS Lanarkshire.

NHS Lanarkshire

NHS Lanarkshire is responsible for the health

Health

Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...

 of more than 553,000 people living within the North and South Lanarkshire

South Lanarkshire

South Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages....

 local authority areas.

The three district general hospitals in the area - Wishaw General, Monklands Hospital

Monklands Hospital

Monklands District General Hospital, is a district general hospital in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Administered by NHS Lanarkshire, it serves a population of approximately 260,000 people of North and South Lanarkshire council areas...

 in Airdrie

Airdrie, North Lanarkshire

Airdrie is a town within North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on a plateau roughly 400 ft above sea level, and is approximately 12 miles east of Glasgow city centre. Airdrie forms part of a conurbation with its neighbour Coatbridge, in the former district known as the Monklands. As of 2006,...

 and Hairmyres Hospital

Hairmyres Hospital

Hairmyres Hospital is a busy district general hospital in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The hospital serves one of the largest elderly populations in Scotland.-The Hospital:...

 in East Kilbride

East Kilbride

East Kilbride is a large suburban town in the South Lanarkshire council area, in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. Designated as Scotland's first new town in 1947, it forms part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation...

 - each have an accident and emergency department

Emergency department

An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...

 and provide a range of specialist medical and surgical services. 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:...

, gynaecology

Gynaecology

Gynaecology or gynecology is the medical practice dealing with the health of the female reproductive system . Literally, outside medicine, it means "the science of women"...

 and paediatric services are based at Wishaw General Hospital.

NHS Lanarkshire employs more than 12,000 staff.

Centralised Services

As part of NHS Lanarkshire's Picture of Health consultation on the future of service provision within Lanarkshire, the centralisation of specialist services at the most appropriate site is an ongoing process.

Accessibility

Following a makeover of bus services from First

First Glasgow

First Glasgow is the largest bus company serving the Greater Glasgow area in, Scotland. It forms part of FirstGroup, a company operating transport services across the British Isles and in North America...

 in 2008, more of the company's buses are now travelling past the main entrance of the hospital and the maternity unit. This was considered necessary since more and more patients were using the hospital facilities and that a survey showed an increase of patients in the hospital every year.

The General Hospital lies 1 kilometre from the town's railway station

Wishaw railway station

Wishaw railway station is a railway station in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The station is managed by First ScotRail and lies on the Wishaw Deviation Line just south of the single track link line which connects to the West Coast Main Line at Shieldmuir....

 to the south-east and Sheildmuir station just over half a kilometre to the west.