Some surgeries postponed as Balfour feels winter pressures

A small number of non-urgent surgeries have been postponed by NHS Orkney this week amid staff absence and other winter pressures.

The health authority has shared this update in the same week as its interim chief executive issues an “emergencies only” plea to the public when it comes to The Balfour’s emergency department.

Following this appeal for the community to access the “right care” in the “right place”, NHS Orkney has this Thursday released a further statement on the pressures it is experiencing.

An NHS Orkney spokeswoman said: “NHS Orkney is experiencing demand on services at the moment, and we suspect this will continue in the weeks to come.

“Our top priority, as always, is to maintain patient safety. We are currently experiencing a mixture of effects including high levels of staff absence (as staff are doing the right thing and staying home while unwell to ensure they are not putting patients at any risk), as well as higher-than-normal cases of Flu, common cold and COVID-19 within the community.

“Due to various factors, we have needed to take the decision to defer a small number of non-urgent surgeries for the remainder of the week and more may be postponed in the weeks to come.

“This is not new to us — in island settings we are a small system and managing changes in demands and calling on business continuity plans is reflective of normal variations.”