Health / Health board to gather views on new hospital
NHS Shetland will soon begin engaging with patients and the wider community to gather views about a replacement Gilbert Bain Hospital.
A number of events are planned during the winter and spring, while the health board has begun a series of professional workshops.
NHS Shetland is currently engaged in an investment appraisal process regarding a replacement hospital.
The current Gilbert Bain in Lerwick has been operating in its current form since the 1960s and there is an acknowledgement it is outdated and no longer fit for purpose.
NHS Shetland chairman Gary Robinson said at a meeting of the health board on Tuesday said it was good to see the appraisals process “moving forward at pace”.
He also reiterated that the Scottish Government is supportive of the process – something which was reflected during health secretary Humza Yousaf’s recent visit to Shetland.
Meanwhile work has just been completed on an expansion of the day surgical unit in the Gilbert Bain Hospital, which doubles capacity.
The revamped space opened to patients on 12 September.
Director of nursing and acute service Kathleen Carolan said this should maximise the opportunity to provide services locally.
There have also been changes in the emergency department to introduce a triage suite to enable staff to provide an initial assessment, and potentially redirect patients to services better suited for their needs.
In the hospital grounds the Vanguard mobile operating theatre, which has been hailed a huge success in tackling a backlog of certain surgical cases, is due to leave Shetland at the end of October.
While the main programme has ended, Carolan confirmed that an additional month of work will be undertaken before the mobile theatre leaves, including procedures like cataract surgery.
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