Government funding Balfour site survey and demolition

Survey work and the demolition of the old Balfour Hospital is to be funded by the Scottish Government.

NHS Orkney’s interim finance director Mel Barnes provided the update for the prominent Kirkwall site at today’s health board meeting.

Survey work, costing £400,000, is programmed for the current financial year with the demolition, costing £1.5-2.5 million, due early in the spring or summer of 2026.

The cleared old hospital site is being looked at by NHS Orkney, Orkney Islands Council, UHI Orkney and Heriot-Watt University as a potential 100-bed unit to house public sector workers.