GP faces Bristol Airport snow disruption to provide only doctor's service in Orkney

A doctor trying to travel to the Orkney Islands to provide an out-of-hours GP service is facing severe travel disruption after flights were grounded at Bristol Airport this morning.

Rebecca Payne, who lives in Cardiff, had planned to fly to Aberdeen this evening to then catch a short flight to Orkney, but snowy and icy conditions have affected arrivals and departures at the airport.

Rebecca, who works every eight weeks in Orkney, said: "Usually I fly up to Aberdeen on Thursday evening and hop over to Orkney on the flight on the Friday morning.

"But there are strikes on Friday so I moved my flight forward but now it looks like I'm going to have to drive up to Aberdeen because it looks unlikely that the Bristol Airport flight will leave later today."

Her flight is listed to depart just before 8pm this evening (8 March) but she is concerned this morning's travel chaos could spill into the evening, especially as more snow is forecast this afternoon.

She now faces nine-hour car journey up to Aberdeen and a 45-minute flight before beginning a week of night shifts in Orkney.

Rebecca told ITV News West Country: "My flight is this evening so I have been obsessively checking the weather, it says it's going to be snow until this evening and then rain.

"So rain falling on snow, I'm a bit worried it's going to turn to ice and mean the runways are going to be shut.

"I just don't know it's a bit of a gamble, should I drive or should I wait for the flight. What I know is that I absolutely have to land on Orkney on Thursday because there are no flights on Friday due to the strikes up there."

In Orkney, there is only one GP on at a time.

Fortunately, Rebecca works on the bigger island where there is a hospital and an ambulance service and there are locums that could come in, but she is reluctant to miss her shift.

She said: "With health budgets what they are, nobody wants to pay for a locum just because the doctor didn't get into work and I don't want it coming out of my pay either.

"So I am going to get there, I will be there for my shift on Friday as planned."

In a statement, Bristol Airport said: "Bristol Airport reopened this morning at 10.30am after a temporary closure (Wednesday 8 March) for snow clearing operations.

"Snow across the UK has caused disruption to several flights this morning at Bristol Airport.  Additional staff are on site to assist with the adverse weather response.  

"It is a rapidly changing situation and passengers are advised to check with their airline prior to making their way to the airport, as some airlines have made proactive cancellations to their flight programme for the remainder the day.

"Passengers are advised to allow extra travel time for the journey to the airport."