Overview of Wishaw General Hospital

A large modern hospital located in the Netherton district of Wishaw (North Lanarkshire), a mile (1.5 km) west of the town centre, the Wishaw General Hospital serves a population of approximately 250,000 in West Central Scotland. The 633-bed hospital was opened in 2001 by First Minister Henry McLeish (b.1948) replacing the former Law Hospital, located 3 miles (5 km) to the southeast at Wildmanbridge. There are also 56 day-case beds and a 36-bed accident and emergency unit ward. Other services include cardiology, surgical, orthopaedic, paediatric, psychiatric and geriatric services, together with the second largest maternity unit in Scotland which serves all of Lanarkshire and delivers 5500 babies annually. This replaced the maternity unit once based at Bellshill Hospital. Wishaw General also has laboratory and teaching facilities.

The £100 million development was built under the private finance initiative by Summit Healthcare (a consortium comprising building and civil engineering contractor Sir Robert McAlpine, the Bank of Scotland and Edison Capital Europe Ltd) who continue to operate the building under a 30-year contract with the National Health Service.