Rural general hospital in Fort William, Lochaber, Scotland
Hospital in Highland, Scotland
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 Henry Burrell, opened in 1865.[1] A prefabricated hospital for fever patients was erected in the grounds in 1893 but, after it burnt down in 1900, was replaced by a more permanent structure in 1901.[1] The main facility was extended following a donation by Balfour Beatty in 1928.[1] After the existing facility proved inadequate, a new hospital, which was designed by Joseph Gleave and built by Arnott Macleod, was officially opened by Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon in April 1965.[1]
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.[2] Following this there were calls to work more closely with the Lorn and Islands Hospital in Oban.[3] In 2006, following the Kerr report, the Belford was designated a rural general hospital.[4]
At the end of November 2009 the surgical and medical wards were merged to form a Combined Assessment Unit (CAU).[5]
Services
There are 34 inpatient beds and a 10-bedded day case unit.[6] The emergency department sees around 9,000 patients a year[7] 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.[8]
There is also a midwife-led service to provide maternity care. In September 2009 it achieved stage 1 of the baby-friendly accreditation programme.[9] Although equipped to perform antenatal ultrasound scans, this service has not been offered at the Belford since June 2012, because of a national shortage of appropriately trained staff.[10] There are also specialist in-patient services for older people.[11]
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