Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Uncertainty looms over future of north east Fife minor injuries unit

Willie Rennie
Willie Rennie

Campaigners say the future of north east Fife minor injuries unit remains uncertain, despite earlier assurances.

The concern for the St Andrews service comes after it was revealed that the future shape of the kingdom’s out-of-hours care will be announced on December 20.

I met with health bosses this morning to discuss the proposal to close the GP out of hours facility in St. Andrews. This is what I found out.

Posted by Willie Rennie for North East Fife on Friday, 26 October 2018

The unit at St Andrews Community Hospital is staffed by doctors and nurses from the overnight primary care service.

However, the town’s out-of-hours service has been suspended since April, due to staffing shortages.

And there are no plans for it to be restored as part of the Fife Health and Social Care Partnership’s newly-concluded Joining Up Care consultation.

Instead bosses have proposed running the midnight to 8am out-of-hours GP service from Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline, or Kirkcaldy only.

North East Fife MSP Willie Rennie sought assurances from the partnership that the minor injuries unit at St Andrews would not be closing as a consequence of ending the overnight primary care service, in August.

But now Lib Dem Mr Rennie said there was real concern it was under threat.

He said he had received a letter from partnership chairman Simon Little, explaining that both options in the proposals would mean the minor injuries services would stop at 6pm and would be unavailable at weekends.

Mr Rennie said: “When I raised this we were told it was not under threat.

“That was not true.

“It wasn’t included in the consultation either.”

Mr Rennie said he intended to meet health bosses before final decisions are made and the results of the consultation are announced.

“I will use the opportunity to stress the case to keep St Andrews hospital open out of hours,” he said.

“The countdown is on. We are now at the crucial final stage of the campaign.”

General manager for west Fife Claire Dobson said the options put forward in the Joining Up Care proposals would the minor injuries unit and primary care emergency service would no longer be available at St Andrews Community Hospital from 6pm to 8am and on weekends and public holidays.

“Of course, out-of-hours care would be provided for St Andrews and the surrounding area from an alternative location,” she added.

She said the partnership was clear the current service was unsustainable and it was determined to find the best solution for Fife.