About the Organisation:
As Scotland’s smallest health board, NHS Orkney is committed to delivering excellent care to our 22,000 residents. Whether you’re new to the NHS or bringing experience from elsewhere, your skills will make a real difference.
Our modern healthcare facility, The Balfour, brings together inpatient care, emergency services, outpatient clinics, diagnostics, GP practices and the Scottish Ambulance Service. We’re also investing in services across our outer isles, ensuring high-quality care reaches every corner of Orkney.
We are guided by our core values that shape everything we do Open and honest, Respect and Kindness from how we care for our patients to how we support each other as colleagues.
About Orkney:
With over 70 islands 20 of them inhabited Orkney offers a unique blend of natural beauty, close-knit community and an opportunity for adventure. From dramatic coastlines and rare wildlife to rich cultural traditions and active lifestyles, it’s a place where compassion thrives and every day brings something new. Regularly named one of the UK’s best places to live, Orkney offers a lifestyle that’s both fulfilling and inspiring.
The Position:
Are you ready to develop new generalist skills and build on your experience?
Could your nursing skills and experience help us to achieve our vision of becoming a centre of excellence in remote and rural healthcare?
NHS Orkney aspires to being a centre of excellence in remote and rural healthcare and we are keen to recruit an Island Nurse who shares this vision to support our team on Hoy.
Hoy, with a population of approximately 388, is a branch of the Orcades Practice (approximately 1,953 patients) which consists of six single-handed island practices with GPs and nurses providing 24/7 healthcare to the smaller islands of Orkney. Weekly Teams meetings enable clinicians to share knowledge and experience to overcome professional isolation and provide strong peer support.
The post holder will work as part of a small health team delivering care to the island population. Rented accommodation is available locally through a private landlord. Please note that this is not NHS-owned accommodation, and rent will be payable directly by the successful candidate to the landlord.
The Candidate:
You will need to be adaptable, resourceful, professionally accountable and confident to work without the resource of a hospital at hand. You will be responsible for the assessment, planning and monitoring of the quality of health care within the community across the life span. The post holder will be responsible for community and practice nursing.
Applications are invited from experienced Band 6 nurses who are forward thinking, highly motivated and can evidence up to date clinical knowledge and skills. You must have an interest in working and developing a wide range of skills in a remote and rural setting.
As this role is remote and requires autonomous working, a nonmedical prescribing qualification is an essential requirement of the role.
Location, Working Pattern and Contract Duration:
This post will be based at Hoy GP Practice
The successful candidate will work: Full Time 36 hours per week
This post is Fixed-Term until 25th of January 2027 to cover for substantive postholders secondment leave
It is a condition of this employment that you must live and remain a resident within the UK for the post in which you will be employed with NHS Orkney.
Benefits and Salary:
Did you know NHS Scotland salaries are higher than those in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland?
The salary for this post is Band 6 and if residing on Orkney, you’ll also receive a Distant Islands Allowance of £1,719 pro rata per annum, adding extra value to your rewarding career with us.
NHS Orkney also offers an attractive pension scheme, wide range of work life balance policies, employee assistance programme and various discounts to both local and national retailers.
Further Information:
If you share our vision and are ready to be part of Team Orkney, we’d love to hear from you. Your rewarding career starts here!
We are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that candidates may need during the recruitment process, and you will be asked whether you require any during your application. If there are additional requirements you would like to request, please contact [email protected]
For further guidance on the recruitment process and tips for creating a strong application, please refer to our Candidate Application Pack.
For an informal discussion, please contact the Hoy Practice Team via email on [email protected] or Laura Highley, Interim Clinical Nurse Manager on [email protected]
