Outpatients Department

Outpatients - Attending for a clinic appointment

Please note all patients attending for an Outpatients appointment at The Balfour must check in first at our Central Reception desk, please do not go straight through to the Outpatients department or you may not be seen in a timely manner. 

It may be helpful to check your appointment letter the day before your appointment to make sure you know which Outpatient clinic you are attending and what time your appointment is at.

If you receive an appointment for an Outpatient Clinic which you are unable to attend, please remember to call up and let us know so we can offer the appointment time to someone else and re-arrange a time to suit you.  Contact details can be found on your appointment letter. 

Whilst we try to run Outpatient clinics as timely as possible, sometimes appointments can be delayed.  If you have onward transport to catch, please let the nurse/reception staff know on arrival when you have to leave.  We will make every effort to ensure you can be seen and can make it to your bus, ferry or plane. 

About the Outpatient Departments

The Balfour has two Outpatient Areas, A and B. Outpatient Area A provides local and visiting clinical services and Outpatient Area B provides Allied Health Professional services. 

Out-patient Area A

Local Services provided to NHS Orkney, on a weekly basis, are:

• General Surgery (Monday and Thursday)
• Gynaecology (Monday and Tuesday)
• General Medicine (Tuesday and Thursday)
• Fracture Clinic (Wednesday)
• Clinical Psychology (Monday-Friday)

As well as:

• Dressing Clinics (Nurse Led) – weekly
• ENT Microsuction Clinics (Nurse Led) – ad hoc
• Pre-assessment Clinics (Anaesthetist and Nurse Led) – weekly
• Pain Clinics (Anaesthetist Led) - ad hoc
• Trauma & Orthopaedics – fortnightly

Pre-operative assessment clinics are carried out in Outpatients Area A for patients requiring an operation within NHS Orkney, NHS Grampian, NHS Highland and the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Clydebank.

Contact Details:

Medical Records: 01856 888075

Should you wish to cancel or change your scheduled appointment, please contact Medical Records on (01856) 888075. 

Each missed appointment costs the NHS over £50 and also stops another patient from being given a clinic appointment. If you are given an appointment which you cannot attend please contact us so we can reschedule your appointment and reallocate your original appointment slot to another patient. 

Outpatient Area B

The AHPs (Allied Health Professionals) that provide services from the outpatients area on a weekly basis are:

• Cardiac Rehab (Cardiology Specialist Nurse-ECG and Echo Technician-Echocardiogram)
• Diabetic Specialist Nurse
• Dietician Services
• Podiatry Services
• Speech and Language Therapy