Kirkcaldy’s accident and emergency department at Victoria Hospital became an out-of-hours minor injuries unit and the new overnight arrangements are set to remain for the rest of the year.
All out-of-hours emergency medicine will be based at Dunfermline’s Queen Margaret Hospital site until the new wing opens at Victoria Hospital next year, with the minor injuries unit at Kirkcaldy operating overnight from 5pm to 8am, beginning last night.
That means the most serious emergency cases will be transferred to Dunfermline between those times, although a full A&E department will operate at the Victoria outwith that period.
The decision to move out-of-hours emergency medicine was approved in January, and NHS Fife insists the changes will ensure the “safety and stability” of services until the new wing opens, provide consistency for the public and staff and allow staff to develop working relationships ahead of the move to the new wing.
The new arrangements echo those implemented on several occasions between May and July last year as a result of staffing shortages.FactorsA number of factors were behind the staffing difficulties including unexpected absences, difficulties in obtaining locum doctor cover, reductions in the hours medical staff can work because of the European Working Time Regulations and changes in clinical practice which have led to increasing specialisation.
Dr Gordon Birnie, medical director of the operational division, said, “This is an important step in the reconfiguration of our services as we prepare for the move of acute services into Victoria Hospital and the establishment of the Diagnostic and Treatment Centre at Queen Margaret Hospital in early 2012.
“By basing out-of-hours emergency medicine at Queen Margaret Hospital from the end of February until the new wing opens, we can ensure the stability of services and allow new patterns of working to develop prior to the moves next year.”
NHS Fife has stressed again that at no time will the emergency departments at Victoria Hospital close, with most patients likely to be able to be treated at the minor injuries unit (MIU).
Anyone attending the MIU at Kirkcaldy whose condition is deemed to be more serious will be transferred to Dunfermline for further treatment.
Adults and children aged one or over can attend the MIU, but when the MIU is in operation overnight, children under the age of one should be taken to the A&E department at Queen Margaret Hospital.