GR Direct - Sony - Save up to £500
Sunday 27 July 2025
 14.5°C   WSW Gentle Breeze
Ocean Kinetics - The Engineering Experts

Health / Hospital and health centres connected again after fault

Photo: Shetland News

NHS Shetland says phone lines and broadband connections are working again in the Gilbert Bain Hospital and local health centres after the telecoms outage across the isles today (Thursday).

A spokesperson said anyone needing to contact the hospital should phone 01595 743000 and not the emergency number advised earlier.

Health centres can also be contacted on the usual telephone numbers and NHS24 on 111.

The health board said that due to the disruption some services have backlogs.

In particular, there may be some short delays in obtaining new and repeat prescriptions due to stock ordering problems caused by the broadband outage.

Director of nursing and acute services Kathleen Carolan said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our staff who have made sure that we could continue to provide essential services today, and to thank the community for being patient and supportive whilst we have worked through these problems.

“We expect that it will take us several days to manage the backlog of work so we really appreciate everyone’s ongoing support whilst we fully resume services. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide further updates as needed”.

NHS Shetland remains on a major incident footing in response to the telecommunications outage caused by a break in the subsea link between the isles and the Scottish mainland.

Become a member of Shetland News

Shetland News is asking its readers to consider paying for membership to get additional perks:

  • Removal of third-party ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.

 
Categories

Sign up
for our Newsletters

Stay in the loop with newsletters tailored to your interests. Whether you're looking for daily updates, weekly highlights, or updates on jobs or property, you can choose exactly what you want to receive.

Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 

JavaScript Required

We're sorry, but Shetland News isn't fully functional without JavaScript enabled.
Head over to the help page for instructions on how to enable JavaScript on your browser.

Interested in Notifications?

Get notifications from Shetland News for important and breaking news.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Have you considered becoming a member of Shetland News?

  • Removal of third-party ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.