Fair Isle, which is located between the Shetland and Orkney mainlands in Scotland, is looking for a healthcare professional to provide a full-time service to its residents, and proud locals say it’s a ‘wonderful opportunity’
A unique job opportunity has arisen for a healthcare professional to work on Britain’s most remote inhabited island, Fair Isle, with perks including a vehicle and an £8,000 relocation package.
Tucked halfway between the Shetland and Orkney mainlands in Scotland, Fair Isle is home to a close-knit community of just 50 residents. The successful applicant will be responsible for providing a full-time healthcare service to the island’s permanent inhabitants as well as its seasonal visitors.
The role offers a salary range of £41,608 to £50,702, which will be boosted by additional payments due to the isolated nature of the location. The selected healthcare professional, who will also be expected to deliver personal care in the absence of any social care provision on the island, will receive an annual remote island allowance of £2,482.
READ MORE: The best seaside towns in England and Wales of 2025 named – is yours on the list?
Moreover, up to £8,000 will be available to assist with their relocation. The employee will be provided with a vehicle and have access to a two-bedroom traditional stone-built property to rent.
Eileen Thomson, a local resident who was born on Fair Isle and returned eight years ago with her young family from Edinburgh, described the position as unlike any other in healthcare.
“On Fair Isle, you get to be so much more of a nurse than you would anywhere else,” she said. “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”, reports the Liverpool Echo.
“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.”
She highlighted that thriving on the island requires fully immersing oneself in its vibrant community life. “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, owned by the National Trust for Scotland since 1954, has maintained a resident nurse since 1903. Before this time, Fair Isle residents had to depend on a community medicine chest for their healthcare needs.
Fair Isle, leading the recruitment drive for the new position, describes the district nurse/nurse practitioner role as an opportunity to join an island with 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 – a mere three miles long and one-and-a-half miles wide – welcomed a new teacher for its primary school.
In June, a Yorkshire company was awarded a £5.6 million contract to build a new roll-on, roll-off ferry for Fair Isle, which is expected to be in service next year.
Do you have a story to share? Email me at [email protected]
READ MORE: Shop Olivia Attwood’s £45 Topshop dress as fans rave about her ‘supermodel legs’