NHS Western Isles is an

NHS board The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

serving the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coast ...

(Western Isles) of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It is one of the fourteen regions of

NHS Scotland NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the publicly funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland, ...

. NHS Western Isles is responsible for providing

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

to the 26,000 people in the

. It employs over 1,000 staff (excluding GPs and dentists). NHS Western Isles NHS has three hospitals. The largest is the

Western Isles Hospital The Western Isles Hospital ( gd, Ospadal nan Eilean Siar) is a rural general hospital in Stornoway on Lewis in the Western Isles of Scotland. It is managed by NHS Western Isles. History The hospital was built at a cost of £32 million and was off ...

, a rural general hospital located in Stornoway. It was opened in 1992 with a range of hospital acute specialities, psychiatry and care of the elderly. Some consultant led services are provided in the Western Isles hospital by consultants based in mainland hospitals. The hospital also includes diagnostic facilities,

day hospital A day hospital is an outpatient facility where patients attend for assessment, treatment or rehabilitation during the day and then return home or spend the night at a different facility. Day hospitals are becoming a new trend in healthcare. The num ...

, laboratory and Allied Health Professionals and other services. The

Uist and Barra Hospital Ospadal Uibhist agus Bharraigh (Uist and Barra Hospital) is a community hospital in Benbecula which provides services on the islands of North Uist, South Uist and Benbecula in the Western Isles of Scotland. It is managed by NHS Western Isles. Hi ...

is located in Benbecula, and was opened in 2001. It provides a local service for the population of the Southern Isles. The hospital has 29 beds, and provides care of the elderly, GP Acute and Midwifery led maternity services. Many of the Consultants from the Western Isles Hospital, and some from mainland Boards, visit the Uist & Barra Hospital to provide outpatient services. St. Brendan's Hospital, with five beds, is located in Castlebay on the Isle of Barra and is in a shared building with a Local Authority Residential facility. It is supported by the local GP Practice to provide care of the elderly and other services. General practitioners from nine different GP practices provide services at fourteen sites across the Western Isles. The Western Isles Dental Centre is located in Stornoway, adjacent to the Western Isles Hospital; the dental centre opened In December 2010. The board has a Baby friendly initiative award, presented to staff in both hospital and community divisions in June 2015. In 2011, the health board spent over £2.1 million in a year on flights alone for patient travel, equivalent to £80 per individual served out of the 26000 strong population.

References

External links

* {{NHS Scotland Organisations based in the Outer Hebrides

See also

References

External links