A&E

Shetland A&E Live Waiting Times

Gilbert Bain Hospital

NHS Shetland

Reported by visitors, not the hospital. Waits shown here are typical for non-urgent cases. Patients are seen in order of clinical priority, so the most seriously ill are always seen first no matter how busy the department is.
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Community reported wait times

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Nearby A&E & urgent care
Cumberland Infirmary A&E
369.1 mi away
Long wait
Penrith Community Hospital Urgent Treatment Centre
384.2 mi away
Long wait
Keswick Community Hospital Urgent Treatment Centre
390.1 mi away
Long wait
West Cumberland Hospital A&E
398.5 mi away
Long wait
Causeway Area Hospital A&E
402.2 mi away
Long wait

There are also other nearby A&Es which collect wait times from the community, including Balfour Hospital, Caithness General Hospital and Dunbar Hospital.

Contact & location
Lerwick, Shetland, ZE1 0TB
Opening times
MondayOpen 24 hours
TuesdayOpen 24 hours
WednesdayOpen 24 hours
ThursdayOpen 24 hours
FridayOpen 24 hours
SaturdayOpen 24 hours
Sunday TodayOpen 24 hours
Getting here
Bus stops
9 routes·4 operators·5 stops within walking distance
Gilbert Bain Hospital (at, north-east)1 min walk to A&E
1R Robertson + SonLerwick
24RG Jamieson + SonLerwick ↔ Greenbank
4R Robertson + SonLerwick ↔ Hamnavoe
5AndrewsHouss ↔ Lerwick
6J+DS HalcrowSumburgh Airport ↔ Lerwick
6R Robertson + SonSumburgh Airport ↔ Lerwick
6ER Robertson + SonSumburgh Airport ↔ Gremista
Gilbert Bain Hospital (opp, south-west)1 min walk to A&E
1R Robertson + SonLerwick
24RG Jamieson + SonGreenbank ↔ Lerwick
4J+DS HalcrowHamnavoe ↔ Lerwick
4R Robertson + SonLerwick ↔ Hamnavoe
5AndrewsLerwick ↔ Houss
6J+DS HalcrowLerwick ↔ Sumburgh Airport
6R Robertson + SonLerwick ↔ Sumburgh Airport
6ER Robertson + SonGremista ↔ Sumburgh
Clickimin Road (opp 1, south-west)2 min walk to A&E
1R Robertson + SonLerwick
Clickimin Road (at 2, north-east)2 min walk to A&E
1R Robertson + SonLerwick
Bell's Brae Primary Sch (at, south-east)2 min walk to A&E
1SJ+DS HalcrowLerwick
Plan journey by public transport

About Gilbert Bain Hospital

Gilbert Bain Hospital runs a 24-hour accident and emergency department on Lerwick in Shetland, Shetland Islands, part of NHS Shetland. Classified by NHS Scotland as a Type 1 emergency department: consultant-led, with full resuscitation facilities and open 24 hours a day.

Official NHS Scotland performance

87.8%seen within 4 hours
518attendances in July 2026
65.5%Scotland average for major emergency departments

Public Health Scotland publishes these figures weekly; this is the site's own return for July 2026. That is above the Scotland average of 65.5% for major emergency departments over the same month. Scotland also reports longer thresholds: 99.2% of patients here were seen within 8 hours and 100.0% within 12 hours.

Attendances by year

NHS yearAttendancesMonthly averageWithin 4 hours
2014-15 (2 months)88844497.4%
2015-167,44862196.5%
2016-177,38861696.0%
2017-187,63063696.6%
2018-197,90365996.2%
2019-207,52762795.2%
2020-215,20043398.3%
2021-226,76056397.5%
2022-238,01966891.9%
2023-248,54571286.4%
2024-258,45070487.6%
2025-268,70072584.6%
2026-27 (4 months)2,97974584.3%

Frequently asked questions

How do I check the current A&E wait time at Gilbert Bain Hospital?

The live waiting time for the A&E at Gilbert Bain Hospital is shown at the top of this page, together with when it was last updated. Times are reported by recent visitors and carry a community badge - after your own visit you can submit your wait time in a few seconds to help the next person.

When is the A&E at Gilbert Bain Hospital quietest?

Patterns vary by hospital, but across UK urgent and emergency care the quietest window is usually the early morning, roughly 4am to 7am, with demand building through the afternoon and peaking in the evening. Friday and Saturday nights and Monday mornings are typically the busiest periods. See our guide to the best time to visit for more detail.

How long will I wait at Gilbert Bain Hospital A&E?

Patients are triaged on arrival and the most urgent cases are always seen first, so your wait depends on how serious your condition is and how busy the department is. In Scotland the standard is for 95% of patients to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival. The live figure on this page shows how Gilbert Bain Hospital is doing right now.

How often are the waiting times on this page updated?

This page updates whenever a visitor submits a new wait time, so freshness depends on recent reports - each entry shows when that person visited. If you have been to Gilbert Bain Hospital recently, submitting your wait takes a few seconds and helps others plan.

Is the A&E at Gilbert Bain Hospital open 24 hours?

Yes - the A&E at Gilbert Bain Hospital is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. In a life-threatening emergency always call 999.

Where is Gilbert Bain Hospital and how do I get there?

Gilbert Bain Hospital is at Lerwick, Shetland, ZE1 0TB. Enter your postcode in the Getting here section for a door-to-door route.
About this data
This hospital does not currently have a live data source. The waiting times shown here are reported by visitors and may not reflect current conditions. You can see how we source data for every hospital on our data sources page. Department labels shown (e.g. A&E, MIU, UTC) are our interpretation of the source data and may not match the hospital’s own terminology. If any information is incorrect, please let us know.
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