Walk-in clinic to move to Gilbert Bain during improvement works

NHS Shetland’s walk-in clinic is set to temporarily move to the Gilbert Bain Hospital next month while improvements are made to the Grantfield premises.

The works will take place over three weekends, with the walk-in clinic moving across town to the outpatients department at the hospital during this period.

The clinic will operate at Grantfield as usual this Saturday (29 August) and Sunday (30 August) from 9am to 5pm.

Services will continue to run at Grantfield from Monday 31 August until Thursday 3 September, from 5pm-8pm.

However, the clinic will be closed on Friday 4 September. The vaccination team will operate from Grantfield until 5pm on Friday 4 September.

During the works, the walk-in clinic will operate from the outpatients department at the hospital from 9am to 5pm on Saturday 5 September and Sunday 6 September.

Evening clinics will also take place from Monday 7 September, from 5pm to 8pm.

The temporary clinic will continue to operate from the outpatients department over the following two weekends (12/13 and 19/20 September) before reopening at Grantfield on Tuesday 22 September.

Following completion of the works, the service is expected to return to evening opening hours (5pm to 8pm) and weekend opening hours (9am to 5pm) that week.

The works at Grantfield will include a new toilet, an additional clinic room and a number of other improvements designed to enhance the service for patients.

NHS Shetland said as the pilot service continues to develop opening days and times may occasionally vary, which will be advertised.

Since opening in May as part of a wider roll-out of walk-in clinics in Scotland, the service has been visited by 54 patients each weekend on average, with most patients being seen within half an hour.

The service has also seen an average of 10 patients during the evenings throughout the week.

It is available to all patients in Shetland, including those who are not registered with a local GP practice. Visitors to Shetland can also use the service.

Patients attending the clinic can receive same-day assessment for urgent, non-life-threatening conditions that would normally be managed in primary care.

This includes new or acute symptoms such as pain, rashes, fever and infections. Patients using the clinic may be seen by either a GP or an advanced nurse practitioner.

The service is not intended for emergency care, ongoing management of long-term conditions, repeat prescriptions, medication reviews, minor injuries, administrative requests or specialist care.

Associate medical director for primary care Dr Deepa Shah said: “We appreciate the public’s patience while these improvements are carried out. The changes at Grantfield will help us improve both the environment and capacity of the walk-in clinic as the service continues to develop.

“The renovation work will also allow us to fully co-locate with the vaccination team, providing improved clinic spaces and facilities for both patients and staff.

“While the work is underway, we would encourage patients to continue using the walk-in clinic if they need to. The temporary service at the outpatients department will provide the same service during the three-weekend relocation period.”

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