Pressure for action after more Victoria Hospital disruption
Fears over patient safety in Fife escalated over the weekend after emergency services at Kirkcaldy's Victoria Hospital were again disrupted.
- By Craig Smith
- Published in the Courier : 12.07.10
- Published online : 12.07.10 @ 11.21am
Staffing shortages at the hospital forced NHS Fife to implement its 'full contingency plan' on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights that saw its accident and emergency department downgraded to a minor injuries unit from 5pm until 8am the following morning.
That meant that Kirkcaldy was left without an A&E department overnight, with emergency cases having to be taken to Dunfermline's Queen Margaret Hospital — more than 10 miles away.
Acute medical admissions were also only to the Queen Margaret overnight on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, although health chiefs stressed patients attending Victoria Hospital could still be seen by an emergency nurse with support from medical staff.
NHS Fife blamed European working time regulations and restrictions on recruiting locums from abroad for the closures, adding that it had to take action "despite its best efforts" to cover sickness absence and implement its contingency plan only partially over the weekend.
But while NHS Fife stressed its "primary concern" remains patient welfare, the fear now is that the lack of cover is becoming a regular problem.
The full overnight contingency plan was implemented for a week in May when, in addition to the transfer of medical admissions, A&E services were concentrated at Queen Margaret with only a minor injuries unit operating at Victoria.
Acute medical admissions were then hit at Victoria Hospital for the same reasons last weekend, although only the Sunday night was involved on that occasion.
Following the latest developments, Helen Eadie, Labour MSP for Dunfermline East, called on health secretary Nicola Sturgeon to step in.
"It's absolutely incredulous to have a health minister who is allowing this to continue in Fife and it's totally inept," she said.
"NHS Fife are saying that this is because of the working time directive but they have had more than 10 years to provide for this and it's an outrageous excuse.
"The issue of recruitment is not a new problem for Fife — we've had difficulty with recruitment for a number of years. To put people in a situation like this is completely unacceptable."
A spokesman for NHS Fife said the measures at Kirkcaldy were due to a "late, unexpected gap" in medical staffing overnight and it had not been possible to find locum doctor cover.
The contingency plan would "remain under review" in the light of changes to clinical staffing availability.
SNP Central Fife MSP Tricia Marwick said she and Kirkcaldy Labour MSP Marilyn Livingstone had met health chiefs in Fife and been reassured that patient safety would not be compromised.
"We've made it clear to them that we only expect this in circumstances where they can't get the locums but we expect that NHS Fife will continue to do all they can to have a full A&E service at Kirkcaldy and acute medical admissions at Kirkcaldy," she said.
"We recognise these are one-off episodes but we've said repeatedly that they should not be viewed as the first option but should always be the last option.
"Ultimately it is patient safety that comes first and if NHS Fife are saying that it would not be safe to continue the service at the two sites in the absence of qualified staff we've got to accept that."
However, Fife Council's Labour leader Alex Rowley described the situation as "stinking of mismanagement" and has written to Ms Sturgeon asking her to intervene.
He added, "This situation sets a dangerous precedent and she needs to get a grip on this situation.
"I've made clear it's irrefutably and completely unacceptable that emergency services are being organised in this way and there seems to be a run-down of service and a lack of forward planning in management.
"From weekend to weekend we're not sure what services we're going to have and at the end of the day it's not good enough-there is a whole range of questions that need to be answered."
Ms Sturgeon previously defended the use of the contingency plan when it was first implemented in May.
"Patient safety must always be the first consideration, and it is right that NHS Fife should have a contingency arrangement in place to deal with situations like this, and that it should be implemented when necessary," she said.
"I expect NHS Fife to do all it can to recruit staff, maintain rotas, and reinstate the services as soon as possible, and I know that is what it is doing."
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