Belford Hospital

Belford Hospital, locally known as The Belford, is a rural general hospital in Fort William, Lochaber, Scotland. It is run by NHS Highland. There are 34 inpatient beds and a 10-bedded day case unit. The Belford provides secondary care to a local population of around 20 000, which can swell up to 60 000 during the summer. Currently, there are Consultant-led general medical and general surgical services. A satellite surgical service is also provided in the Mackinnon Memorial Hospital in Broadford on Skye by surgeons from the Belford. The emergency department sees around 9000 patients a year making it one of the smallest in Scotland, however due to its proximity to the outdoor activity centres in the Lochaber region sees proportionally a significant amount of trauma prior to transfer to tertiary centres in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. When the Scottish Executive looked at reorganising rural health care in 2004 there were clear reasons put forward to retain provision of an emergency service at the Belford. Following this there were calls to work more closely with the Lorn and Islands Hospital in Oban. In 2006, following the Kerr report, the Belford was designated a rural general hospital.

Belford Hospital, locally known as The Belford, is a rural general hospital in Fort William, Lochaber, Scotland. It is run by NHS Highland. There are 34 inpatient beds and a 10-bedded day case unit. The Belford provides secondary care to a local population of around 20 000, which can swell up to 60 000 during the summer. Currently, there are Consultant-led general medical and general surgical services. A satellite surgical service is also provided in the Mackinnon Memorial Hospital in Broadford on Skye by surgeons from the Belford. The emergency department sees around 9000 patients a year making it one of the smallest in Scotland, however due to its proximity to the outdoor activity centres in the Lochaber region sees proportionally a significant amount of trauma prior to transfer to tertiary centres in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. When the Scottish Executive looked at reorganising rural health care in 2004 there were clear reasons put forward to retain provision of an emergency service at the Belford. Following this there were calls to work more closely with the Lorn and Islands Hospital in Oban. In 2006, following the Kerr report, the Belford was designated a rural general hospital.