Island Medics gets launch

A NEW daytime TV series which goes behind the scenes of Lerwick’s Gilbert Bain Hospital and Shetland’s emergency services is set to air for the first time in early December.

 The ten-part series Island Medics will debut on BBC One on Monday 4 December at 9.15am.

Camera crews spent a number of months in Shetland earlier this year to document how healthcare on the isles intertwines with the emergency services.

The first episode will feature an oil rig worker being airlifted to hospital with suspected serious neck injuries, while the coastguard and lifeboat help a boat which had its propeller caught in rope.

It also includes an ambulance call-out to a former nurse, who is suspected to have had a stroke.

Davie Gardner, who helped co-ordinate the production locally, said the job gave him “greater respect for wir NHS and emergency services folk” and said it was a “very positive experience”.

NHS Shetland chief executive Ralph Roberts previously told told Shetland News that he hoped the series could attract more people to applying for the health board’s numerous vacancies.

It has a number of long-standing GP posts open in areas such as Bixter, the North Isles and Lerwick.