Three days of flight disruption begins

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) staff are in the midst of three consecutive 24-hour strikes starting today, Tuesday.

The strikes are part of ongoing industrial action in a dispute over pay with the Scottish Government-owned HIAL.

Despite the action, air ambulance flights will continue and while NHS Orkney moved to reassure passengers, there was a warning of disruption including cancellations.

Unite also confirmed that its members will take part in a discontinuous overtime ban across HIAL’s 11 airports, including Kirkwall, starting on Friday, February 24 up to and inclusive of Thursday, March 2.

NHS Orkney says it has ensured that it has essential equipment and supplies that may be needed over the three days.

Some therapies, tests and procedures are being cancelled to ensure that the health authority minimises the risk to patients, given the limited access to some of the supplies, equipment and transport it would normally have available at short notice. NHSO has already contacted all those who have been affected by these cancellations and we are rescheduling the appointments.

For patients who have appointments at hospitals outside Orkney over these three days, the health authority advises that they contact them directly to rearrange the appointments and discuss alternatives.

A spokeswoman from NHS Orkney said: “We have ensured that disruption to our services will be minimal, and that emergency care is not disrupted at all.”