Kirkcaldy enters third weekend without Victoria Hospital A&E
NHS Fife's ongoing shortage of locum doctors has meant that medical services at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy have been hit for the third weekend in a row.
- By Aileen Robertson
- Published in the Courier : 17.07.10
- Published online : 17.07.10 @ 09.31am
On confirming they have had to roll out the "full contingency plan" of closing Victoria's accident and emergency (A&E) department and suspending acute admissions overnight, Fife health bosses said they were making "every effort to resolve clinical staffing difficulties as quickly as possible."
From 5pm on Friday, the A&E was downgraded to a minor injuries unit with emergency cases being transferred to Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline.
The contingency measures were set to be in place until 8am on Saturday and be repeated at 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.
The contingency plan was revealed by NHS Fife in January in response to staffing shortages.
It was brought in last weekend and, although Kirkcaldy's A&E was open the week before, acute medical admissions at Victoria were suspended during the night of Sunday, July 4.
When the contingency was implemented for the first time in May, Kirkcaldy went without an A&E for a week.
An NHS Fife spokeswoman said patients turning up at Victoria overnight can still see an emergency nurse practitioner who has support from other medical staff at the hospital.
Gaps in staffing
She said, "NHS Fife has announced that despite its best efforts, it will be implementing its full contingency plan this weekend.
"The reason for this contingency continues to be that due to gaps in medical staffing overnight at the weekend, it has not been possible to obtain any locum doctor cover."
She added, "Patient safety is our primary concern. Implementation of the contingency plan ensures that clinical services are being provided with safe levels of medical staffing.
"This contingency plan means that from 5pm on Friday, July 16, until 8am on Saturday, July 17, from 5pm on Saturday, July 17, until 8am on Sunday, July 18, and from 5pm on Sunday, July 18, until 8am on Monday, July 19, acute medical admissions will be only to Queen Margaret Hospital.
"In addition, during these times the A&E department at Victoria Hospital will operate as a minor injuries unit."
The spokeswoman said, "We expect the unit at the Victoria Hospital to continue to see and treat 85% of the patients it would have done before the contingency plan came into operation.
"Anyone who is sufficiently seriously ill to require an ambulance will already be taken directly to Queen Margaret Hospital."
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