Concerns are growing that a shake up of Glenrothes hospital could result in vital services being lost.
Labour councillors have questioned proposals to redesign interim care at community hospitals such as Glenrothes.
Health bosses claim it would allow patients to see multiple clinicians in the same day instead of waiting weeks to be referred between services.
A clinically-driven consultation detailing the changes is currently under way with a decision on whether to press on with a redesign due to be taken in October.
Presenting the proposal to the town’s area committee, Karen Gibb, NHS Fife’s change and improvement manager, said: “People who used to have to be cared for in community hospitals can now be cared for in homes. The historic model we are still using typically doesn’t meet patients’ needs.
“While people with complex needs are still cared for in community hospitals, at any one time, there are around 30 to 40 in community hospitals in Fife who don’t need to be there.
“The consultation has shown many people would prefer to be cared for in, or close to, their own homes.
“While the new hub would still be a place for care, it would also be used as a base for a wide range of services.”
However, Glenrothes Labour Councillor Altany Craik said there was already a deep mistrust for the proposals and called for reassurances that this wasn’t another move to draw services away from Glenrothes.
“There is no doubt delivering care needs to be done differently, but we’ve heard this before in 2012 and again when we closed the out-of-hours service earlier this year.”
“Residents need to know the capabilities of what is being delivered and that it’s not just a winding down of the hospital.
“I also question the claim that 87% of the public are in favour of these plans.
“I had difficulty in reading the proposal which is dressed in language that is virtually impenetrable to the public.
“People in Glenrothes have been here before and we know how that ended up.
“They need reassurances that this is not death by a 1000 cuts to the town’s health services .”
Helen Hellewell, chairwoman of Glenrothes health and social care locality planning group, said she did not envisage a future in which community beds are not needed.
She said: “It would not be the intention to downgrade the service as there will always be a need for a certain number of people to be looked after in a complex care environment.”
The Integrated Joint Board will decide whether to adopt the proposal when it meets on October 25.
