More “horror stories” of treatment at under-fire Victoria Hospital were raised at a public meeting to debate the state of NHS Fife.
Around 50 people gathered in Dunfermline’s City Chambers amid mounting criticism of the Kirkcaldy hospital since its £170 million new wing opened just over a year ago.
A former nurse told of her distress at seeing an elderly patient whose blanket had slipped off left lying exposed to the cold for several hours and later falling out of a wheelchair as he was taken for an x-ray at 11.30pm.
The woman, who was accompanying a relative in hospital, said: “Some of what I witnessed made my blood run cold.”
Another woman told how as a patient she had had to beg for water when she was dehydrated.
Fife Council executive spokesman for health and NHS Fife board member Andrew Rodger told the room: “There have been so many horror stories from Victoria Hospital over the last few months.
“It has not been managed properly to put the patient at the centre. This is the last chance saloon for the management of NHS Fife. If they don’t get their act together heads will roll.”
He also outlined how the additional investment of £2.7 million announced recently for the hospital will be spent on extra staff including nurses, A&E consultants and radiologists capacity will be reviewed and greater use made of Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline.
Victoria Hospital, he said, had been operating at 123% capacity when it should be between 75 and 80%, resulting in patients being shifted between wards or even discharged in the early hours of the morning.
There was disappointment at the absence from the meeting of NHS Fife chief executive John Wilson, who had been invited to speak.
Dunfermline councillor Helen Law, who called the meeting, said: “He is the person who really should be in the hot seat, but he has declined to come.”
As well as issues over quality of care, there was criticism of public transport for staff, patients and visitors travelling to Victoria Hospital from Dunfermline since the shifting of services from the town’s Queen Margaret Hospital.
Although additional buses have been introduced, people said direct buses between the hospital and Dunfermline bus station were unsuitable for visiting and shift times.