Non-emergency surgeries have been postponed at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy as NHS Fife battles “unprecedented pressure” on its services.
Elective surgeries have not been stopped altogether but the health board admitted capacity for the operations has been “considerably reduced”.
Procedures at the Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline are continuing without “notable disruption”, a statement on Friday afternoon said.
A rise in hospital admissions due to Covid, flu and other seasonal illnesses has been blamed.
The move comes after data showed that 142 people were forced to wait for more than 12 hours to see a medic at the hospital’s A&E, while an additional 129 patients faced over eight hours of delays.
One whistle-blower claimed patients are regularly being left in the back of ambulances due to the ongoing crisis.
Waiting times across Scotland have remained at record highs with hospitals struggling to discharge patients who should be able to leave due to strains within the social care system.
Nicola Sturgeon, was challenged on Monday to visit the Fife hospital to see the full-scale of the A&E crisis first hand.
The First Minister has recently denied making any attempts to stop Victoria Hospital from declaring a major incident after Roz McCall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said workers were stopped from calling in special measures despite the pressure.
‘Significant rise’ in admissions at Victoria Hospital
Claire Dobson, director of acute services, said that while capacity at Victoria Hospital has been reduced, procedures at Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline are continuing.
Claire said: “Much like other parts of the country, we have experienced unprecedented pressures on our services in recent weeks, with a significant rise in the numbers of people requiring admission to hospital after contracting Covid-19, flu and other seasonal illnesses.”
She added: “Despite these pressures, we have not ceased our elective surgical programme.
“Our elective capacity at the Victoria Hospital has been considerably reduced, however procedures scheduled at Queen Margaret Hospital have continued without any notable disruption.
“The decision to postpone any procedure is not one which is ever taken lightly, and those at greatest clinical need continue to be prioritised to be seen first.
“As always, we will continue to maximise our surgical capacity and perform as many elective procedures as we can carry out safely.”
