NHS Highland () is one of the fourteen regions of NHS Scotland. Geographically, it is the largest Health Board, covering an area of from

Kintyre Kintyre (, ) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East Loch Tarbert, Argyll, East and West Loch Tarbert, Argyll, West Loch Tarbert in t ...

in the south-west to

Caithness Caithness (; ; ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Scotland. There are two towns, being Wick, Caithness, Wick, which was the county town, and Thurso. The count ...

in the north-east, serving a population of 320,000 people. In 2016–17 it had an operating budget of £780 million. It provides prehospital care, primary and secondary care services.

Organisational structure

NHS Highland is composed of two Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs): * The Highland Health and Social Care partnership covers the local government area of

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

. It has two main divisions: ** The North and West operational unit covers

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

, Lochaber and Skye,

Lochalsh Lochalsh is a district of mainland Scotland that is currently part of the Highland (council area), Highland council area. The Lochalsh district covers all of the mainland either side of Loch Alsh - and of Loch Duich - between Loch Carron and Lo ...

and Wester Ross. ** The Inner Moray Firth operating unit covers

Raigmore Hospital Raigmore Hospital () 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 hospital, educating a range of ...

, Badenoch and Strathspey, Mid Ross, Inverness and

Nairn Nairn (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Highland (council area), Highland Council council areas of Scotland, area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nair ...

. * The Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership covers the local government area of

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

. This includes the Cowal peninsula, which is closer to services in the central belt than those in Inverness.

History

On 1 October 2001 NHS Highland health board was established. NHS Highland's first board members were announced 10 days later. In 2005 Community Health Partnerships (CHPs) were introduced. On 1 April 2006, NHS Highland took over responsibility for part of the former NHS Argyll and Clyde region (corresponding approximately to the

council area), the other part of which was transferred to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. On 1 April 2012 NHS Highland became the lead agency responsible for Adult Social Care services, with the council taking over issues relating to children. It directly employs over 10,500 people and there are also around 1,000 primary care staff in the region. In December 2014, Broadford, Skye was chosen as the site for a new hospital, after a consultation process. Some campaigners had hoped that the central hub of services in Skye could have been based at Portree Hospital; however the Scottish Health Council has pronounced the process followed by the board as legitimate. In 2017, the board reduced the number of main administrative buildings: refitting Assynt House, which the board owns, and reorganising Larch House, which is leased. In 2017 the

Highland PICT Team The 'Prehospital Immediate Care and Trauma'' (PICT) Team is a Emergency medical services, prehospital care team which operates from Raigmore Hospital emergency department in Inverness, Scotland. It receives funding from NHS Highland and the Scot ...

is started as a trial. In 2020, Skyports, a drone delivery service provider, began delivering pathology samples, medicine, essential

personal protective equipment Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elect ...

and COVID-19 testing kits in Argyll and Bute. Delivery should take only 30 minutes, where previously it has taken 48 hours. Communication will be provided by Vodafone's 4G network and satellite communications. The plan is to integrate the operation into the local NHS supply chain. In March 2022, the PICT Team was awarded Highland Hero Emergency Services Hero of the Year.

Training initiatives

In 2011 NHS Highland announced it would be running a week-long "boot camp" for junior surgeons at

, Inverness.

Prehospital Care

NHS Highland funds and runs a specialist pre-hospital care team comprising a senior doctor and an advanced practitioner (

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

paramedic A paramedic is a healthcare professional trained in the medical model, whose main role has historically been to respond to emergency calls for medical help outside of a hospital. Paramedics work as part of the emergency medical services (EMS), ...

). This is known as the Prehospital Immediate Care and Trauma (

PICT PICT is a graphics file format introduced on the original Apple Macintosh computer as its standard metafile format. It allows the interchange of graphics (both bitmapped and vector), and some limited text support, between Mac applications, an ...

) Team. The name being a play on words in relation to the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...

, the group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. The team was the winner of the 2022 Highland Heroes awards in the category of Emergency Services. PICT currently operates 12 hours per day, seven days a week, responding to around 150 patients a month. The PICT Team responds by land to

major trauma Major trauma is any injury that has the potential to cause prolonged disability or death. There are many causes of major trauma, blunt and penetrating, including falls, motor vehicle collisions, stabbing wounds, and gunshot wounds. Dependi ...

(as an integrated part of the Scottish Trauma Network) and critically unwell patients in the Highlands of Scotland. The doctor on the PICT Care will also assume the role of the medical incident officer when required at a major incident. The PICT Team have attended a variety of incidents, including aircraft crashes, road traffic collisions, stabbings, shootings and critically unwell patients. NHS Highland announced in early 2022 that they would defund the Inverness PICT Team, in steps which will leave the Highlands and Inverness without a seven-day physician-led enhanced care service. This led to the local MSP Sir Edward Mountain to campaign to save this prehospital resource from defunding. Mountain stated that

"This pioneering service is essential when responding to major trauma incidents across the Highlands we simply cannot afford to lose it."

Hospitals

NHS Highland is responsible for a number of different types of hospital - a large district general hospital, 3 rural general hospitals, a

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

and a number of community hospitals

District general hospital

, Inverness

Rural general hospitals

* Caithness General Hospital, Wick * Belford Hospital, Fort William * Lorn and Islands Hospital, Oban

Psychiatric hospitals

* Argyll and Bute Hospital, Lochgilphead * New Craigs Hospital, Inverness

Community hospitals

* Badenoch and Strathspey Community Hospital, Aviemore * Campbeltown Hospital,

Campbeltown Campbeltown (; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre Peninsula. Campbeltown became an important centre for Scotch whisky, and a busy fishing port. The 2018 populatio ...

* County Community Hospital,

Invergordon Invergordon (; or ) is a town and port in Easter Ross, in Ross and Cromarty, Highland (council area), Highland, Scotland. It lies in the parish of Rosskeen. History The town built up around the harbour which was established in 1828. The area ...

* Cowal Community Hospital, Dunoon * Dunbar Hospital, Thurso * Mackinnon Memorial Hospital, Broadford on Skye * Islay Hospital, Bowmore * Lawson Memorial Hospital, Golspie * Mid Argyll Community Hospital, Lochgilphead * Migdale Hospital, Bonar Bridge * Mull and Iona Community Hospital,

Isle of Mull The Isle of Mull or simply Mull ( ) is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye) and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the Council areas of Scotland, council area of Argyll and Bute. Covering , Mull is the fourth-lar ...

* Nairn Town and County Hospital,

* Portree Hospital, Portree * RNI Community Hospital, Inverness * Ross Memorial Hospital,

Dingwall Dingwall (, ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland (council area), Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest castle north ...

* St Vincent's Hospital, Kingussie * Victoria Hospital, Rothesay * Victoria Integrated Care Centre,

Helensburgh Helensburgh ( ; ) is a town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local government reorganisation in 1996. Histo ...

* Wick Town and County Hospital, Wick

Primary Care

The board started tests of the GP Near Me service with patients of Riverview Practice in

Wick, Caithness Wick ( ; ) is a town and royal burgh in Caithness, in the far north of Scotland. The town straddles the River Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay. "Wick Locality" had a population of 6,954 at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2011 ...

in October 2018; with patients booking video appointments if a face-to-face appointment is not required. A similar system NHS Near Me has been used in Caithness for hospital outpatient appointments.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Health in Highland (council area) Organisations based in Inverness 2004 establishments in Scotland Health in Argyll and Bute