Shetland: a good career move and 'more quality time'

There is something special about island communities, as pharmacist Laura Toulson knows very well.

Between 2013 and 2016 she lived in the Falkland Islands and, after a spell back in her native North Yorkshire, she moved to Shetland in the summer of 2022. Shortly after arriving in Lerwick to take up a role as a pharmacist with NHS Shetland, Laura explains why she chose to pursue a career in the UK’s most northerly archipelago.

“I really like small island living, “ she says, “People are friendlier and it’s not as over-populated.” And, of course, the landscapes are spectacular.

That was a big part of the appeal for Laura and her partner Mark Catton – who landed a job working at Scottish Sea Farms site at Lunna in the North Mainland.

“There is so much to do outdoors, which is what we love to do. We have brought our two dogs with us and there are lots of places to explore.”

The dogs, a Labrador called Cedric, and Rodney, a cockapoo, love the openness and the chance to enjoy a run on the beach (Laura says she is always careful to check for livestock before letting the dogs loose). And it’s fair to say that Laura and Mark are also making the most of Shetland’s incredible coastline.

“We have been out coasteering, which was a lovely way to see the coastline as well as being good fun. We also went across to Mousa, and have enjoyed walking out in Muckle Roe.”

But it’s not all adrenaline-fuelled adventures and exploring beauty spots – Laura and Mark have also discovered the joy of Sunday teas, enjoying the home bakes and social gatherings that take place at community halls across Shetland most weekends through the summer.

While their early adventures have ticked several things off the extensive Shetland “to do list”, the reason Laura and Mark moved to the islands was so she could join NHS Shetland as a primary care pharmacist.

Taking the role was a promotion for Laura, with the “added bonus” of being in Shetland.

The job, and the innovative approach adopted by NHS Shetland’s pharmacy department, provide new opportunities for career development which Laura is excited to pursue. She’s also aware that being part of a small team can make things more challenging, but often in a good way.

“You have to think on your feet a lot of the time and push the boundaries. There are opportunities to learn and opportunities to develop.”

That is partly because there are more chances to work with multi-disciplinary teams.

“Although I’m working in primary care, there will be times when I’m asked to help out at the hospital. That gives opportunities for cross-sector working – more experience, more opportunity to develop and learn.”

At its core, Laura’s role involves working with the network of general practices across Shetland, ensuring that all communities are supported. It is a varied workload, says Laura.

The primary care pharmacy team of three pharmacists and three technicians deal with all the medication needs for each of the GP practices. That includes ensuring new patients, and those who are discharged from hospital to the community, have all the right medication. They also run their own clinics, help at the care homes. “Anything medication related”.

Laura has noticed a huge contrast between the role in Shetland and how things worked in North Yorkshire where there were “lots of layers of the NHS”.

“Because NHS Shetland is a small organisation there aren’t all those layers. You sometimes have to find out the answer yourself. That’s challenging but in a good way.”

And the commute is not bad, either. Laura lives in South Nesting, a scenic 20-minute drive (along excellent roads) from Lerwick where NHS Shetland is headquartered. South Nesting, she says, is “gorgeous” and the journey home is a doddle.

“It’s amazing how good the roads are, we were really surprised because they are much better than were we come from.

“You seem to have much more time in the day to enjoy life outside of work. You’re not stuck for an hour commuting to work and back. The daily grind is different. You seem to have more quality time, you don’t seem to get bogged down as much.”

Arriving in the mid-summer certainly helps, as the long evenings leave plenty of time for exploring. “It feels like your evenings go on for ever. We can be home by half five. Rather than being stuck on a dual carriageway with loads of traffic, or a collision, we can get home from work and think, ‘It’s a nice night, let’s go to St Ninian’s or go to the beach’. We would never have done that after work.”

As experienced travellers, who have moved around and lived in an island community before, Laura says the move to Shetland itself, arriving by the NorthLink ferry, was straightforward.

Her advice to anyone moving to the islands is to download Promote Shetland’s welcome pack – and say yes to opportunities.

“You have got to put yourself out there, and you can’t expect the island to come to you. People in islands are used to lots of people coming and going all the time so you have to put yourself out there.”