Western Isles Hospital
Encyclopedia
The 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
. The hospital has 212 beds across a range of specialties, including general medicine, geriatrics
, paediatrics, general surgery
, orthopaedics, obstetrics and gynaecology
and psychiatry
.
Specialist services are provided by Consultants
from Raigmore Hospital
in Inverness
on a rotational basis, and also by locum consultants. The majority of medical staff are junior doctors on rotation from Aberdeen, and the hospital is notable for not having any specialist registrars.
The hospital employs nursing staff that are in the majority locals who trained on the Scottish mainland and have returned to work on the island. A variety of allied health professionals are based at the hospital, including dieticians, pharmacists, physiotherapists, podiatrists and radiographers.
Rural general hospital
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...
in Stornoway
Stornoway
Stornoway 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...
on Lewis in the Western Isles of 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...
. It is run by NHS Western Isles
NHS Western Isles
NHS 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...
, the local health board
Health board
Health board might mean in the following countries a current or historical body concerned with health services and/or public health.*Australia*Canada*Denmark - a National Board of Health*England - a Board of Health...
. The hospital has 212 beds across a range of specialties, including general medicine, geriatrics
Geriatrics
Geriatrics is a sub-specialty of internal medicine and family medicine that focuses on health care of elderly people. It aims to promote health by preventing and treating diseases and disabilities in older adults. There is no set age at which patients may be under the care of a geriatrician, or...
, paediatrics, general surgery
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...
, orthopaedics, obstetrics and gynaecology
Obstetrics and gynaecology
Obstetrics and gynaecology are the two surgical–medical specialties dealing with the female reproductive organs in their pregnant and non-pregnant state, respectively, and as such are often combined to form a single medical specialty and postgraduate training programme...
and psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
.
Specialist services are provided by Consultants
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...
from Raigmore Hospital
Raigmore Hospital
Raigmore Hospital in Inverness is the main hospital in the area of NHS Highland Health Board. It serves patients from its own and adjacent Community Health Partnership areas as well as those from adjacent Health Board areas. It is also a teaching hospital in association with the Universities of...
in Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
on a rotational basis, and also by locum consultants. The majority of medical staff are junior doctors on rotation from Aberdeen, and the hospital is notable for not having any specialist registrars.
The hospital employs nursing staff that are in the majority locals who trained on the Scottish mainland and have returned to work on the island. A variety of allied health professionals are based at the hospital, including dieticians, pharmacists, physiotherapists, podiatrists and radiographers.