A Fife health boss was branded ”arrogant” as tempers flared over Glenrothes Hospital’s out of hours GP service.
Politicians, doctors, campaigners and concerned residents crammed into a meeting room at Rothes Halls on Thursday night to discuss NHS Fife’s proposal to move the service to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.
Tricia Marwick MSP launched a blistering attack on medical director Dr Drew Smart, accusing him of trying to bully and threaten the people of Glenrothes into accepting the closure.
She said: ”I think your contribution has been arrogant and that you have refused to listen. It shouldn’t be the people of Glenrothes who pick up budget cuts for the rest of Fife.”
It followed Dr Smart’s statement that unless he was given an extra £2 million for a minor injuries unit at Glenrothes Hospital the move would go ahead.
Dr Smart said: ”With all the consultation we have done I have not had my opinion that we should move to Kirkcaldy changed.”
According to NHS Fife, moving the GP service to Victoria, where it would sit alongside a minor injuries unit, would improve the standard of healthcare provided.
The NHS representatives who attended, including medical director Dr Brian Montgomery and non-executive board member Alastair Robertson, were accused of not listening to public concerns.
Mrs Marwick said: ”There are 80,000 people in Glenrothes and the area and they can’t get an out of hours service, when there is a service in St Andrews where there is not much more than 12,000 people.”
Lindsay Roy echoed the view of many in the room when he suggested NHS Fife had already decided to close the service.
It has been revealed hospital staff were told about the closure over a year ago and NHS Fife did not initially launch a consultation because the move was not regarded as a major change.
NHS Fife performed a U-turn on the matter this week, stating its intention to consult more widely with communities and confirming the matter would be decided by the board and not a sub-committee.
But Mr Roy said: ”At this belated stage how can NHS Fife reassure us that’s it’s not a fait accompli?”
Dr Montgomery said: ”Glenrothes Hospital is not meeting out of hours standards of care as laid down by Healthcare Improvement Scotland.
”The challenge I have is to ensure that these standards are being met where possible. Part of these standards is the co-location of services wherever it is possible to do this, such as providing an out of hours service next to a minor injuries unit.”
One member of the public asked Dr Montgomery to apologise for the initial lack of consultation.
”I’m happy to accept that we got it wrong,” the medical director said.
The man indicated that was not an apology and walked out of the meeting.
Glenrothes Area Futures Group called the meeting, which was chaired by Dr Bob Grant.