Preparations are well underway for a staged move to the new Balfour Hospital starting at the end of this week.

Orkney’s clinical services will be working from the new Balfour hospital from this Friday 14th of June. 

Chief executive of NHS Orkney Gerry O’Brien said:

“I want to say a huge thank you to every member of staff because everyone has played a part in getting us ready to move. Any relocation of clinical services is significant; moving an entire hospital is a major undertaking. We’re all really excited to get the new facility up and running.

“There are some key dates and times people in the county need to be aware of when it comes to accessing healthcare. I know we can count on their support to make this move as smooth as possible.”

Emergencies

From 8am Friday 14th of June any presentations to the Emergency Department should report to the Emergency Department entrance at the new Balfour.

Out-of-hours dental and GP service will be accessed through NHS24 as normal and patients will need to access the service through the Emergency Department entrance at the side of the new facility.

Maternity

The Balfour maternity unit will move across that same morning –  for entry into the maternity unit (when not in labour) please come through the Balfour main entrance and use the lift which directs you to the maternity unit.

For entry (whilst in labour) – please phone the unit before coming in and use the Emergency Department entrance and report to the receptionist.  A member of staff will then take you to the unit.  All maternity clinics and scans will be located in the maternity unit from Friday 14 June onwards.

Heilendi and Skerryvore

Heilendi and Skerryvore GP practices will be closed on Friday 14 and Monday 17 June to enable the services to move into the new facility (if you require a GP during this time please contact NHS 24 on 111) and will re-open in The Balfour on Tuesday 18 June.  The GP practices are accessed through the main entrance and then the purple door way marked General Practice.

NHS Dental

NHS Orkney dental health services will be operational in the new building from Wednesday 19 June, please enter through the main entrance and head straight to the purple dental department entrance.  This change will affect those previously seen at the King Street dental practice and the Balfour oral surgery unit.  The out-of-hours dental service will be accessed through NHS24 as normal.

Other services

All other NHS Orkney clinical services will be operational from Tuesday 18 June, please report to reception in the main entrance in the first instance.

Members of the public, patients and staff are asked to ensure parking at the ‘old’ Balfour from 6pm on Thursday 13 June is in the Health Centre car park only.

Telephone number

Members of the public  are also asked to note that the new reception desk at The Balfour has a new telephone number 888100; alternatively call the normal 888000 out of hours or in an emergency.​

Here’s a reminder of what it was like before the move