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A great place to work

At Caithness General Hospital, you would be joining an amazing team, gain a wide range of experience and enjoy a quality of life that is truly hard to beat.

Careers at Caithness General Hospital

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At Caithness General Hospital we deliver high quality, safe and integrated care.

Come and join our team of generalist specialists

Staff in Rural General Hospitals (RGHs) like Caithness General Hospital in Wick pride themselves on delivering an exceptional quality of care. There is a strong tradition of team-working within the hospital and there is a close working relationship between managers, medical, nursing and other professional staff across the site and the community. It won’t take you long to know everyone’s face and everyone’s role in the team.

NHS Highland has benefited from having an integrated health and social care system in place since April 2012. This means in Caithness that NHS Highland is responsible for the delivery of acute services:

  • primary care
  • community
  • adult social care
  • care at home and care homes

And this all comes under a single management system with single budget and single governance.

The local team also enjoys close working relationship with Raigmore Hospital in Inverness including a number of visiting consultants and specialist nurses.

The hospital is subject to the same regulations, inspections and audits as any other acute hospital in Scotland. Staff are actively engaged in the Scottish Patient Safety Programme with strong support from both clinical staff and managers. The hospital has consistently performed well in external inspections. There is a continuous audit of inpatient performance and hospital mortality.

caithness general hospital medical staff chatting in corridor

Why work in a Rural General Hospital?

Hands-on and enormously varied, life in a Rural General Hospital challenges people to be the very best they can be and by doing so become amongst the best in the country.

NHS Highland is the most experienced health board in the United Kingdom at delivering remote and rural medicine, including in Rural General Hospitals.

There is no question people will enhance their career portfolio working at a RGH, not only through research, teaching and training, but also by embracing the unique challenges and opportunities working at an RGH provides.

NHS Highland is recruiting. This is the chance to be the doctor you’ve always wanted to be. To rise to the challenges and gain rich experiences. And, if that wasn’t enough, you will be living and working within some of the world’s most beautiful landscapes.

Caithness General Hospital aerial view 3

Be a valued member of the community

As you will find Caithness General Hospital is more than just a hospital to the local community. It is one of the biggest employers in the area and a symbol of the need to keep services local.

Working in the hospital will not only be immensely rewarding in terms of the experience you gain, but you will be valued within the local community. The satisfaction of being part of a close-knit team serving a close-knit community can be unparalleled.

Caithness X-ray department staff dressed up for Wick Gala

Be a valued member of NHS Highland

As a doctor or an advanced practitioner in a RGH, you can enhance your career by embracing the unique challenges being faced to deliver medical services in remote and rural areas. New clinical models are required to find more sustainable services for the future. The ability to think differently and work with all your professional colleagues will be sure to broaden your experience in the process.

You have the opportunity to truly make a difference in your role - to have your say, help design and shape new services, enhance infrastructure, bring teams together, and be a facilitator for further progress.

three caithness general hospital medical staff chatting

Enjoy a quality lifestyle

To top it all off, in the Scottish Highlands you will be living and working in some of the world’s most stunning scenery and enjoy a slower pace of life. No more traffic-ridden daily commute, some famously low crime rates, affordable housing, great schools and services and desirable outdoor lifestyle.

Whether you plan on 'going rural' for a couple of years or a lifetime, NHS Highland will support you. So don’t hold off any longer - be the doctor you didn’t even know you could be.

aurora borealis over a Caithness beach

Recruitment contacts

Recruitment Team
Caithness General Hospital
Bankhead
Wick
KW1 5NS

See other NHS Highland recruitment contacts.

About Caithness

Caithness is an area of unspoilt, dramatic scenery in the far North of Scotland.

Bordered by the Pentland Firth to the north, and the Moray Firth to the east, in the west Caithness meets Sutherland and together they cover the far north coast of Scotland.

Altogether Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross has a population around 62,000. Wick and Thurso are the main settlements, and are both based around harbours and make their living on a mix of fishing and tourism. Surprisingly, Wick and Thurso are among the largest towns in the Highlands, with Thurso’s port of Scrabster being the main gateway to the Orkney Islands beyond.

The flow country, one of the last true wilderness areas in Europe, is a popular home for numerous rare plants, insects and birds. Caithness is also rich in archaeological remains, with some of the best-preserved surviving brochs and chambered cairns in Scotland.

Relocation

Those of us who live and work here are excited about the benefits, but we also know people new to the area have to settle in - find a home, perhaps a school, job for partners, and find out where to enjoy your hobbies. Here are some links to relevant information that may help your move.

blue rowing boats by Loch Watten
harbour with boats in Caithness
coastal rock stacks in Caithness
coastline with Dunbeath Castle in Caithness

Last updated: 22 May 2024