Working for us
NHS Orkney is working hard to be the best remote and rural care provider in the UK, do you want to play a part in helping us achieve our vision?
With views as far as the eyes can see, stunning beaches and miles-upon-miles of coastline, you’ll always find your own space in Orkney. Lying off the northern coast of Scotland, between John O’Groats and the Shetland Isles, these enchanting islands await you. With this, it is no surprise that Orkney has been voted the best place to live in Scotland for eight years running.
Orkney is an archipelago of 70 beautiful islands, of which 17 are inhabited. As a genuinely wonderful place to live, Orkney offers unique wildlife, amazing scenery and real opportunity to experience a wide range of cultural and sporting activities. There is something for everyone; state-of-the-art leisure facilities, various clubs and societies, and an excellent education system creates our strong community spirit.
NHS Orkney’s hospital and healthcare facility, The Balfour, opened in 2019 and is transforming the way healthcare is delivered. With inpatient wards, an emergency department, outpatients, diagnostic services, Dentistry, two GP practices and the Scottish Ambulance Service all under one roof, there are excellent opportunities for close multidisciplinary working to benefit our patients. We are now working towards further investment in our outer island facilities. These developments allow us to drive forward service improvement with confidence.
If you’re enthused by what we have to offer, share our vision, and believe you can contribute to NHS Orkney, we would be thrilled to hear from you.
NHS Orkney offers a large range of exciting career prospects, including a wide range of learning and development opportunities for people who are passionate about making a difference. We actively recruit people of all ages, backgrounds and levels of experience.
Check out our new recruitment video below, you can also find out more about our latest recruitment campaign here
Watch the video below to find out more about living and working in Orkney
Welcome from Laura Skaife-Knight, Chief Executive
Thank you for your interest in NHS Orkney.
Orkney is a really great place to live and work. The relationship with our local community here is truly a special one, and like none I have experienced in my career to date.
I recognise moving to Orkney is a very big decision. If it’s a move you are considering, like me, you will no doubt have a lot of questions going through your mind about what it’s really like to help you to make the right decision for you.
We have tried to answer some of these questions, provide details about NHS Orkney and share some helpful information about living and working here to assist you as you do your research. I hope that you find this pack useful, and it helps you come to the conclusion that you should apply to work with us.
At NHS Orkney, we are absolutely committed to the delivery of high-quality, safe, and effective care for all that need us. We are proud to employ over 750 staff across our community, primary and secondary care services. We call this team, Team Orkney, recognising we are one team, all pulling in the same direction.
NHS Orkney is on an exciting journey of improvement, with a strong focus on doing all we can to deliver the best possible care and services to our patients and local community, with a real focus on providing care in Orkney and ideally in people’s own home. The pace of change will continue to accelerate driven by our committed staff who are keen to adopt new and innovative ways of working without losing what is special to working in Orkney, our wonderful community and community spirit.
I am passionate about leading with kindness and working in an open, honest and transparent way that supports staff to innovate, be bold and be brave knowing that not everything we do turns out as we intended. I want us to have a listening and learning culture here, where staff feel supported, valued and looked after. It is important that we consistently listen to and act on patient and staff feedback so that we can learn and continuously improve what we do.
NHS Orkney has a clear set of values and these drive all we do:
- Care and Compassion Dignity
- Respect
- Quality and Teamwork
- Openness, Honesty and Responsibility.
The final thing I would like to say to any prospective applicant is that Orkney occupies an enviable location at the north of Scotland with breath taking beaches, hills, and rolling countryside right on our doorstep. Orkney has consistently come out top in national lifestyle and happiness surveys, and with an open and vibrant community, it is the perfect location to call home within a safe and welcoming community.
This, along with Orkney’s direct flight connections to other major cities in Scotland and now further afield including London, means the area can offer staff so many rewarding opportunities for those in pursuit of finding the right work-life balance. If you’d like to discuss any opportunity, please get in touch with us via and we’d be pleased to discuss further recognising you will have many questions for us to help you to reach the right decision about your future. For me, choosing NHS Orkney was the best decision I ever made.
Laura Skaife-Knight
Chief Executive, NHS Orkney
Latest vacancies
Follow the link to view our vacancies on the NHS Scotland recruitment site. For more information on our vacancies please contact the recruitment team at ork.recruitment@nhs.scot or 01856 888296.
Medical Elective
Regretfully, NHS Orkney will not be offering Elective placements in 2024. This will be reviewed for 2025 and the website will be updated accordingly.
Please do not submit applications using the form below in the meantime.
Read more and apply onlineWork Experience
NHS Orkney is pleased to support a number of clinical and non-clinical work experience placements. This provides individuals with the opportunity to gain further knowledge and understanding in the careers available at the NHS.
If you are a school student and interested in a work experience placement, please speak to your DYW school co-ordinator.
If you are a school leaver and interested in a placement, please contact the Talent and Culture team on ORK.student@nhs.scot.
Read more and apply onlineA rich history and heritage
Orkney has an abundance of archaeological history and tourists come from all over the world to admire Orkney’s Neolithic sites.
10,000 years of history can be seen throughout Orkney and new discoveries are still being made. From the Neolithic village of Skara Brae, the St Magnus Cathedral, the Ring of Brodgar, Churchill Barriers and the Italian Chapel, there is plenty to be explored in Orkney.
Voted the best place to live
In 2020 Orkney was named the best place to live in Scotland for the eighth year in a row, rating positively on employment, health, low crime, lack of traffic and even the weather.
Orkney was also named the best place in Great Britain to bring up children with a survey confirming that children benefit from a quality education in Orkney, with its schools often included in Great Britain's top 100 Best State School list.
Excellent housing and schools
There are 17 primary and 2 secondary schools located on the mainland of Orkney, with 3 Junior High schools on the outer islands. Further education is provided at Orkney College, part of the University of the Highlands and Islands.
There is a range of housing to buy or rent throughout the islands. Social housing is provided through Orkney Islands Council and the Orkney Housing Association.
Transport links
Links from the mainland
Orkney is remote and geographically isolated however travelling to the islands is simple as there are various transport links to the mainland. You can travel to Orkney by sea with services operated by Northlink Ferries and Pentland Ferries. If you prefer to fly, you can use Orkney’s Air Services with several flights available each day to various Scottish airports.
Orkney residents are eligible for an islander discount operated by Northlink ferries. For flights between Orkney and Scottish airports, Orkney residents are also eligible for discounted fares under the Air Discount Card Scheme.
Using public transport
Public transport is available through Stagecoach bus services who operate throughout the Orkney mainland. Transport services are also available through OCTO, a local company who provide Bus, Coach and Minibus hire to serve local community groups, as well as providing a service to tourist groups.
The nearest railway station is in Thurso on the Scottish Mainland where you can take a bus to the ferry services.
Making your own way
NorthLink Ferries operate a car-ferry service between Stromness and Scrabster in the north of Scotland. They operate daily return journeys that take approximately one hour and thirty minutes. Northlink also operate a ferry service from Aberdeen to Kirkwall that takes around six hours, and if you’d like to go further north you can also get a Northlink ferry to Shetland from Kirkwall.
Pentland Ferries operate a car-ferry service from St. Margaret’s Hope in South Ronaldsay which operates daily return journeys between St Margaret’s Hope and Gills Bay on the mainland. The journey takes just one hour and is the shortest ferry crossing with your car.
Loganair operate Orkney’s main air services and there are flights available from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness and Shetland to Kirkwall Airport.