A rural general hospital is a small

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

, similar to a district general hospital, but is specifically trained and staffed to provide healthcare services in remote and rural areas. The concept was pioneered by NHS Scotland.

Access to services

The rural general hospitals are all to be found in the Scottish

Highlands and Islands The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland and Outer Hebrides (Western Isles). The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 ...

in areas which generally have a small or scattered populations who would otherwise face a long or difficult journey to get to larger settlements. The rural general hospital model aims to overcome some of the practical difficulties associated with delivering services to the people living in these areas.

Framework

Rural general hospitals provide

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

-led general surgical services and examples of the type of planned operations that patients can have include gall bladder surgery and endoscopy. Certain specialist procedures can be performed at rural general hospitals by visiting surgeons. Some specialist staff may travel between rural general hospitals. Rural general hospitals are equipped and staffed to be able to resuscitate, stabilise and prepare patients who might require emergency surgery. Some emergency surgery can be carried out in the rural general hospital- surgery to remove an appendix or resolve an abdominal problem, for example. Many have consultant-led general medical services also. A few hospitals have medical services provided by ''hospital practitioners'', who are general practitioners with extra training. All the rural general hospitals have

maternity ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestati ...

services, generally provided by general practitioners and

midwives A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; con ...

, although some have Consultant-led services. Rural general hospitals that are located on islands are also equipped and staffed to be able to carry out caesarean sections.

Recognition and support

The Scottish Government accepted the recommendations of the Remote and Rural Steering Group's report and since 2008 have recognised 6 rural general hospitals: * Balfour Hospital, Kirkwall,

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

- run by NHS Orkney *

Belford Hospital Belford Hospital, locally known as The Belford, is a rural general hospital in Fort William, Lochaber, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Highland. History The original hospital, which was financed by a legacy from Andrew Belford and designed by ...

, Fort William,

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; gd, Loch Abar) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig, as they were before being reduced in extent by the creation ...

- run by

NHS Highland NHS Highland is one of the fourteen regions of NHS Scotland. Geographically, it is the largest Health Board, covering an area of from Kintyre in the south-west to Caithness in the north-east, serving a population of 320,000 people. In 2016–1 ...

Caithness General Hospital Caithness General Hospital is a rural general hospital operated by NHS Highland, located in Wick, Caithness, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Highland. History The hospital became operational in 1986 to replace the previous Caithness Central Hosp ...

, Wick,

Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...

- run by NHS Highland *

Gilbert Bain Hospital The Gilbert Bain Hospital is a rural general hospital in the burgh of Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Shetland. History The hospital has its origins in a small cottage hospital which was funded by Gilbert Bain, a businessman ...

Lerwick Lerwick (; non, Leirvik; nrn, Larvik) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland ...

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

- run by

NHS Shetland NHS Shetland is an NHS board which provides healthcare services in Shetland, Scotland. The organisation is responsible for the provision of health and social care to the population of around 23,000 people that are resident in Shetland. There are ...

* Western Isles Hospital,

Stornoway Stornoway (; gd, Steòrnabhagh; sco, Stornowa) is the main town of the Western Isles and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it by far the largest town in the Outer Hebrides, as well a ...

Isle of Lewis The Isle of Lewis ( gd, Eilean Leòdhais) or simply Lewis ( gd, Leòdhas, ) is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as ...

- run by

NHS Western Isles NHS Western Isles is an NHS board serving the Outer Hebrides (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 t ...

Lorn and Islands Hospital Lorn & Islands Hospital is a rural general hospital on the southern outskirts of Oban in Argyll, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Highland. History The hospital was designed by Reiach & Hall using a design solution that has been recognised as p ...

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

Originally about £1.5 million of funding was allocated to support this framework.

Other rural hospital models of care

There are some other hospitals that face similar challenges, but that have employed different models to deliver care to rural communities: *

Dr Gray's Hospital Dr. Gray's Hospital is a district general hospital in Elgin, Moray, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Grampian. History The hospital was founded as a result of a bequest by Alexander Gray (d. 1807), who was born in Elgin but worked as a surgeon ...

, Elgin,

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...

* Mackinnon Memorial Hospital, Broadford,

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated ...

- run by NHS Highland

References

{{Reflist, 2 NHS Scotland Rural Scotland