Patient Travel

Travel tickets are available for patients resident in Orkney who have been referred by General Practitioners or Consultants to hospitals on the mainland of Scotland, and to escorts who have been authorised by the patient’s doctor or consultant. You can choose to travel by air or sea. Tickets are issued under the Highlands and Islands Travel Scheme.

For patients registered with Dounby Surgery, Daisyvilla Surgery, Stromness Surgery, Skerryvore Practice or Heilendi practice, please call Travel Administration on 01856 888 045 as soon as you receive your appointment from the hospital. Travel Administration will take note of your travel arrangements and make the booking for you.  You will be asked to send a copy of your appointment letter/email to verify your appointment and once this is received, you will be sent an email with your booking confirmation and any other relevant information, or you can collect your paperwork from the main reception desk in The Balfour by taking along your appointment letter.

For patients registered with a GP surgery in the outer isles you will need to contact your GP receptionist who will take your details and will make the travel arrangements in conjunction with Travel Administration, who make all the necessary bookings. Once the surgery have verified your appointment the booking can either be emailed to you or picked up from your GP Surgery.

Once the booking has been made and confirmed, you will be issued with:

• A Patient Travel Voucher/Ticket detailing the confirmed travel arrangements and booking reference details
• A Patient Travel Pack which includes the: Patient Travel Booklet 
• A Highlands and Islands Travel Claim form

Patients travelling under the Highlands and Islands travel scheme are required to pay the first £10 of any claim.  This will be deducted from the claim received following travel, unless in receipt of certain benefits. Your GP practice will be able to advise you of the benefits that are eligible for exemption.

NHS Orkney will only reimburse necessary expenses incurred in travelling to and from hospital, and have the right to decline inappropriate claims. Should your visit to hospital involve an overnight stay, NHS Orkney will reimburse you for bed and breakfast only, no other meals are reclaimable. The bed and breakfast rate reimbursable is at a pre-set rate. The rates are available from your surgery or from Travel Administration at The Balfour.

Lists of accommodation can be found within Aberdeen Accommodation and Inverness Accommodation.

Any claims for travel expenses should be submitted on a completed Highlands and Islands Travel Claim form along with all receipts to Travel Administration at The Balfour on your return to Orkney.

If you have any queries about your travel arrangements, feel free to contact Travel Administration on (01856) 888045.

Escort Travel

An escort may be authorised to travel with you if your General Practitioner or Consultant deems it necessary. All patients travelling under the age of 16 will be entitled to have an escort travel with them.

Air Ambulance Transfers 

Patients transferred by Air Ambulance will be escorted by the retrieval team.  Relatives/friends may be able to travel with the patients if space is available, but will be responsible for their own accommodation and return flight costs, unless they meet the escort criteria as stated within the: NHS Travel Policy

Young Patients Family Fund 

If you have a young person from birth to 18 that needs to attend an inpatient appointment (outpatient appointments are not covered under this scheme) and reclaim expenses, please read the information leaflet below and fill in a YPFF expenses claim form.

• Young Patients Family Fund Information Leaflet
• Young Patients Family Fund Claim Form

Photo ID

All patients/escorts who travel by air on a scheduled flight must have an acceptable form of photographic ID with them. 

Travelling by air:

Loganair operate the inter island services within Orkney and to the Scottish mainland. There are flights available from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness and Shetland to Kirkwall Airport.

From Sunday 1st July 2018 HIAL will be introducing car parking fees at Kirkwall Airport. NHS patients travelling to attend an NHS appointment will be exempt from car parking fees. In order for patients to qualify for free parking they will have to present either their appointment card or letter.

• On entry to the car park patients will be issued an entry ticket. 
• On their return to Kirkwall Airport patients should go to the Information Desk with their entry ticket and proof of their appointment, where their ticket will be validated to allow them to exit the car park free of charge.

PLEASE NOTE: Patients must present proof of their appointment in order for their entry ticket to be validated. Should patients be unable to provide proof of their appointment at the Information Desk, they will have to pay car parking fees before exiting the car park. Car parking fees are non-reclaimable under the Highlands and Islands Travel Scheme.  Information about the parking charges can be found in the HIAL Car Parking leaflet 

Travelling by ferry:

Orkney Ferries operate a car-ferry service between the Orkney Mainland and the Isles.

Northlink Ferries operate a car-ferry service from Stromness to Scrabster in the north of Scotland and also between Kirkwall to Aberdeen and Kirkwall to Shetland.

Pentland Ferries operate a car-ferry service from St. Margaret’s Hope in South Ronaldsay which operates daily returns journeys between St Margaret’s Hope and Gills Bay.

Travelling by road:

Using public transport is available through Stagecoach and Scottish Citylink. Or if you are driving plan your route by AA route Planner .

Read or download useful documents