A&E

Kirkwall A&E Live Waiting Times

Balfour Hospital

NHS Orkney

Reported by visitors, not the hospital. Waits shown here are typical for non-urgent cases. Patients are seen in order of clinical priority, so the most seriously ill are always seen first no matter how busy the department is.
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Community reported wait times

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Nearby A&E & urgent care
Cumberland Infirmary A&E
281.7 mi away
Long wait
Penrith Community Hospital Urgent Treatment Centre
298.4 mi away
Long wait
Causeway Area Hospital A&E
299.8 mi away
Long wait
Keswick Community Hospital Urgent Treatment Centre
301.8 mi away
Long wait
West Cumberland Hospital A&E
307.9 mi away
Long wait

There are also other nearby A&Es which collect wait times from the community, including Dunbar Hospital, Caithness General Hospital and Lawson Memorial Hospital.

Contact & location
Foreland Road, Kirkwall, KW151NZ
Opening times
MondayOpen 24 hours
TuesdayOpen 24 hours
WednesdayOpen 24 hours
ThursdayOpen 24 hours
FridayOpen 24 hours
SaturdayOpen 24 hours
Sunday TodayOpen 24 hours
Getting here
Bus stops
12 routes·2 operators·5 stops within walking distance
Hospital Entrance (at, northbound)1 min walk to A&E
6StagecoachKirkwall
7StagecoachKirkwall
8SStagecoachKirkwall ↔ Stromness
X1StagecoachSt Margarets Hope ↔ Skara Brae
MacMillan (at, eastbound)2 min walk to A&E
Macmillan (opp, westbound)2 min walk to A&E
New Balfour Hospital (at, northbound)3 min walk to A&E
2StagecoachKirkwall
3StagecoachKirkwall
3EStagecoachKirkwall
4StagecoachKirkwall
4DOrkney TravelKirkwall
7StagecoachKirkwall
8SStagecoachKirkwall ↔ Stromness
9StagecoachKirkwall
9EStagecoachKirkwall
N1StagecoachSt Margarets Hope ↔ Stromness
X1StagecoachSt Margarets Hope ↔ Skara Brae
New Balfour Hospital (opp, northbound)3 min walk to A&E
2StagecoachKirkwall
3StagecoachKirkwall
3EStagecoachKirkwall
4StagecoachKirkwall
4DOrkney TravelKirkwall
6StagecoachKirkwall
7StagecoachKirkwall
8SStagecoachStromness ↔ Kirkwall
N1StagecoachKirkwall ↔ St Margarets Hope
X1StagecoachSkara Brae ↔ St Margarets Hope
Plan journey by public transport

About Balfour Hospital

Balfour Hospital runs a 24-hour accident and emergency department on Foreland Road in Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, part of NHS Orkney. Classified by NHS Scotland as a Type 1 emergency department: consultant-led, with full resuscitation facilities and open 24 hours a day.

Official NHS Scotland performance

91.9%seen within 4 hours
567attendances in July 2026
65.5%Scotland average for major emergency departments

Public Health Scotland publishes these figures weekly; this is the site's own return for July 2026. That is above the Scotland average of 65.5% for major emergency departments over the same month. Scotland also reports longer thresholds: 99.8% of patients here were seen within 8 hours and 99.8% within 12 hours.

Attendances by year

NHS yearAttendancesMonthly averageWithin 4 hours
2014-15 (2 months)52926497.9%
2015-165,49545898.2%
2016-175,74647997.8%
2017-186,10650996.3%
2018-196,77856595.7%
2019-206,94957996.2%
2020-215,01741896.8%
2021-226,85057195.5%
2022-237,70764289.7%
2023-247,97066490.3%
2024-258,25068891.0%
2025-268,46070593.9%
2026-27 (4 months)2,88572193.9%

Frequently asked questions

How do I check the current A&E wait time at Balfour Hospital?

The live waiting time for the A&E at Balfour Hospital is shown at the top of this page, together with when it was last updated. Times are reported by recent visitors and carry a community badge - after your own visit you can submit your wait time in a few seconds to help the next person.

When is the A&E at Balfour Hospital quietest?

Patterns vary by hospital, but across UK urgent and emergency care the quietest window is usually the early morning, roughly 4am to 7am, with demand building through the afternoon and peaking in the evening. Friday and Saturday nights and Monday mornings are typically the busiest periods. See our guide to the best time to visit for more detail.

How long will I wait at Balfour Hospital A&E?

Patients are triaged on arrival and the most urgent cases are always seen first, so your wait depends on how serious your condition is and how busy the department is. In Scotland the standard is for 95% of patients to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival. The live figure on this page shows how Balfour Hospital is doing right now.

How often are the waiting times on this page updated?

This page updates whenever a visitor submits a new wait time, so freshness depends on recent reports - each entry shows when that person visited. If you have been to Balfour Hospital recently, submitting your wait takes a few seconds and helps others plan.

Is the A&E at Balfour Hospital open 24 hours?

Yes - the A&E at Balfour Hospital is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. In a life-threatening emergency always call 999.

Where is Balfour Hospital and how do I get there?

Balfour Hospital is at Foreland Road, Kirkwall, KW151NZ. Enter your postcode in the Getting here section for a door-to-door route.
About this data
This hospital does not currently have a live data source. The waiting times shown here are reported by visitors and may not reflect current conditions. You can see how we source data for every hospital on our data sources page. Department labels shown (e.g. A&E, MIU, UTC) are our interpretation of the source data and may not match the hospital’s own terminology. If any information is incorrect, please let us know.
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