Caithness General Hospital is a

rural general hospital A rural general hospital is a small hospital, 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 ...

operated 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– ...

, located in

Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placename ...

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 ...

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 managed by

History

The hospital became operational in 1986 to replace the previous Caithness Central Hospital. A new Day Case Unit was opened by

Sam Galbraith Samuel Laird Galbraith (18 October 1945 – 18 August 2014) was a Scottish politician and neurosurgeon who served as Minister for Environment, Sport and Culture from 2000 to 2001 and Minister for Children and Education from 1999 to 2000. Galbra ...

in 1999. A CT scanner service was introduced in August 2008. The hospital formerly had a consultant-led maternity unit, but stringent application of clinical risk assessment criteria meant that in 2012 and 2013 around 30% of pregnant women in the Caithness area needed to travel to

Raigmore Hospital Raigmore Hospital ( gd, Ospadal an Rathaig Mhòir) is a health facility located in Inverness, Scotland. It serves patients from the local area as well as providing specialist services to patients from across the Highland area. It is a teaching h ...

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

to give birth. In November 2016 the NHS Highland board approved the introduction of a community midwifery unit.

Services

Capacity

The hospital has the capacity to accommodate 68 inpatients: 20 medical beds, 42 surgical beds, and 6 beds in the midwifery unit. Its services include: 24-hour Accident & Emergency department, assessment and rehabilitation, general medicine, general surgery, midwifery and palliative care.

Emergency surgical services

In December 2014 the health board announced that emergency surgical services would not be available at night or weekends from 15 December 2014, due to a lack of suitable consultant cover. A meeting between the health board and community leaders to discuss staff shortages was then scheduled for 6 January 2015.

Community midwife unit

In January 2017, the hospital completed the introduction of a midwife-led unit. , there are an estimated 136 births a year at the hospital; it has full accreditation as baby friendly, since November 2009.

Hospital radio

Radio Remedy is a volunteer-run radio station based at the hospital.

References

External links

* {{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1986 NHS Highland NHS Scotland hospitals Hospitals in Highland (council area) Buildings and structures in Caithness Wick, Caithness