A district nurse/nurse practitioner is being sought to work on the UK’s most remote inhabited island – Fair Isle, which lies halfway between the Shetland and Orkney mainlands
A healthcare professional is being sought to work on Britain’s most isolated inhabited island – with benefits including a vehicle and an £8,000 relocation package. Fair Isle, the small island positioned midway between the Shetland and Orkney mainlands in Scotland, is home to just 50 inhabitants.
The incoming nurse will be responsible for delivering a full-time healthcare service to the island’s permanent residents, alongside visiting holidaymakers. The role comes with a salary bracket of £41,608 to £50,702, though this package will be enhanced by extra payments due to Fair Isle’s isolated location.
The chosen candidate, who will be required to deliver personal care in the absence of any social care provision on the island, will receive a remote island allowance valued at £2,482 annually, whilst up to £8,000 is available to assist with their move.
A vehicle will be supplied and a two-bedroom traditional stone-built property will also be accessible for the jobholder to lease. Local resident Eileen Thomson, who was raised on Fair Isle and returned to the island from Edinburgh with her young family eight years ago, described the opening as being unlike any other healthcare position.
“On Fair Isle, you get to be so much more of a nurse than you would anywhere else,” she explained. “On the mainland, you might see a patient for five minutes, and not see them again for months, or even ever. But here, the nurse gets to really look after people.
“You get that continuity of care living and working alongside people, and you get that chance to look after your flock – it’s a wonderful opportunity for someone.”
A crucial attribute for thriving on the island, she explained, was the ability to immerse yourself fully in its “vibrant” community spirit. We need people who are going to work hard and get on,” she said.
“If anyone wants solitude and isolation, they’re better off living in a city. On Fair Isle, we need people to chip in, who can help out, and who want to be sociable, because that’s how we all thrive.”
The island, which has been under the ownership of the National Trust for Scotland since 1954, has maintained a resident nurse since 1903.
Before that time, Fair Isle residents had to depend on a community medicine chest for their healthcare needs.
NHS Shetland, which is leading the recruitment campaign for the latest position holder, described the district nurse/nurse practitioner role as a chance to become part of an island boasting a “truly welcoming atmosphere” and a “resilient community”.
“Fair Isle is a wonderful place to live and work, offering low pollution, low crime, excellent schools, great leisure facilities, unique wildlife and amazing scenery, whilst still only a short flight away from the UK mainland,” it said.
Earlier this year, the island – spanning just three miles in length by one-and-a-half miles in width – celebrated the arrival of a new teacher for its primary school. In June, a Yorkshire-based company was granted a £5.6 million contract to construct a new roll-on, roll-off ferry for Fair Isle, which is anticipated to be operational next year.
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