Plans for two brand new Fife health centres at a cost of nearly £9 million have taken a step forward.
Members of the Fife health board have now approved initial agreement documents in relation to replacement facilities in Lochgelly and Kincardine after officials said the existing health centres limited high quality, modern and patient integrated care.
A £6 million new build facility at a site in Francis Street has been deemed the preferred option moving forward for Lochgelly, while a new build costing just shy of £3 million at Tulliallan Primary School is to be pursued for Kincardine.
The initial agreement documents in relation to both will now be submitted to the Scottish Government for approval, before outline and full business cases will come forward at a later date.
Claire Dobson, west divisional general manager, said a number of workshops and events had been held in both areas to inform the developing documents, with GP practices, healthcare professionals, social work, Fife Council, community councils and elected members all having their say on the direction of travel.
“The vision for health and social care services is to provide robust integrated care that crosses the boundaries between primary, community, health and social care with GPs, healthcare professionals and social care staff working together as one system, to provide care at home or as close to home wherever possible, with a strong focus on early intervention, prevention, anticipatory care and self-management,” she said.
“Both areas expect an increase in population due to proposed house building, though it is difficult to quantify an expected increase in the short, medium and long-term.
“Taking account of both the need of these communities for improved healthcare and the extremely poor state of the current health and social care estate that serves them, the logic of investing in new health centres in Lochgelly and Kincardine remains current, despite the challenging financial environment within the public sector.”
Board members heard how the Cowdenbeath locality area, which encompasses Lochgelly, is within the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland and reported more than 1,000 more individuals living with a mental health condition compared to Fife overall per 100,000 population.
Likewise, the South West Fife locality, which takes in Kincardine, is expected to see a 13% increase in the over 65s age group by 2026 – compared to just 8% for Fife and 7% for Scotland as a whole.
It is also deemed the second highest of the seven localities identified within Fife in terms of deprived access to a key range of services.
The Francis Street new build option is being pursued for Lochgelly ahead of a number of others.
Those included the status quo; a refurbishment of the Jenny Gray site; demolition of the Jenny Gray facility and a new build on the site; and a new build on the Lochgelly North School site.
As for Kincardine, identified sites at Feregait and Station Road were discounted in favour of the Tulliallan Primary option.