Previous Opportunities

NHS Shetland is the most northerly Health Service in the country and a unique setting in which to develop your career. We are, of course, a small organisation, with circa 650 staff looking after the health needs of some 23,000 people spread across 15 islands. However, what we lack in size, we more than make up for by way of the tight-knit, highly professional ethos that characterises every aspect of our operations.

Our job – your job should you care to join us – is to provide healthcare services to, and strive to improve the overall health of, the population of this most delightful part of the British Isles.

The job of Consultant Physician in the Gilbert Bain Hospital, Lerwick is very significantly different from the large majority of posts in the UK. This is not a job for a super specialist or narrowly focussed physician but very much for one who wishes to practice a wide ranging role as general physician. We see a very broad range of pathology and you must be prepared to deal with everything that presents, frequently outside our area of specialism. If you enjoy a challenge and to work on occasions at the edge of your clinical expertise this is a post to consider.

The role can be demanding but the many intellectual challenges provide the corresponding satisfaction to be derived from solving problems and helping patients. The physicians work closely and collaboratively together and are always helpful when discussing patients and offering thoughts and advice. We are also able to seek help and advice from a wide range of colleagues in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, our local tertiary referral centre.

In addition to caring for general medical patients we also have a role, with a large degree of support from our psychiatry colleagues, in supervising the admission of a small number people with acute mental health conditions. We also see children who attend A&E and care for the small number admitted to the ward. We have direct Consultant-to-Consultant access, 24 hours a day, to telephone advice from the Paediatricians in Aberdeen though, in practice, this is needed only a few times a year.

This is a beautiful part of the world, with a satisfyingly different lifestyle from the metropolitan centres. Those who wish to experience a unique life-work balance thrive here. The diverse nature of Shetland’s culture, the stunning scenery, the wildlife, even the local dialect, as well as the spread of different islands all make for particular professional and personal challenges. Shetland is a world where wildlife is truly wild, where otters and seals play in quiet coves, and the air is full of the sound of wild birds, crowding the jagged cliffs in huge and noisy colonies. There are regular sightings of Killer Whales and superb displays of rare sub-arctic flora.

Consultant Physician – Candidate Pack

For more information on this opportunity and how to apply, please visit www.aspenpeople.co.uk/nhsshetland.  For a confidential discussion, please contact Lorraine Porteous, Associate Director on 0141 212 7555.

To apply, please complete the short form below and attach your CV, Medical Application & Equality Form, Fitness to Practice Form and Immigration Questionnaire.  All documents are available to download via the microsite link above.

If you do not receive an automatic acknowledgement, please contact Melissa Scholes on 0141 212 7555.