The closure of Dunfermline’s hospice is all but confirmed as NHS Fife finally reveals plans for the future of palliative care in the region.
More than 2,000 people have signed a petition calling for the hospice at Queen Margaret Hospital to remain open.
However, the ward does not feature in proposals due to be put to the NHS Fife and health and social care partnership boards later this month.
Clinicians say they want to expand the end-of-life care previously on offer in Fife.
And this means a move to a single hospice in Kirkcaldy, palliative care beds at five community hospitals across the region and an extended service to care for more patients at home.
According to doctors, the new set-up means the service will be able to care for 60 people at any one time, rather than 19 under the previous arrangements.
But the announcement has provoked fury with campaigners who say it is vital Queen Margaret Hospice remains open.
Labour MSP Claire Baker, who started the petition, has now called for a full public consultation on the matter.
She said: “I’m angry and disappointed that a decision to permanently close the hospice at Queen Margaret appears to have been reached behind closed doors.”
‘Increasingly clear decision has been taken’
Mrs Baker has been calling for clarity on the future of the hospice in ward 16 since January.
It shut temporarily during the Covid pandemic but NHS Fife repeatedly gave assurances the closure was not permanent.
However, after reopening in 2022, it closed again in February this year and all patients and beds were moved from the ward.
The MSP said: “I asked NHS Fife to keep me informed throughout this process and specifically for information on when consultation and a final decision would take place.
“But my correspondence has been ignored and a recent briefing for elected members seems little more than a box-ticking exercise as it becomes increasingly clear a decision has already been taken.
“The lack of transparency from NHS Fife around the whole process is very concerning.
“I am urging NHS Fife and the integrated joint board to postpone any decision at least until proper public consultation has taken place.”
Changes are ‘hugely beneficial’
NHS Fife said the new proposals had been drawn up by palliative care clinicians following a “comprehensive programme of engagement”.
Dr Jo Bowden, consultant in palliative medicine, said services had to adapt at the start of Covid to keep vulnerable patients safe.
“These changes have proven to be hugely beneficial, both for patients and their carers, and enable us to care for far greater numbers of people than previously,” she said.
“As clinicians, we want to be able to provide patients with personalised care in a place of their choosing.”
Dr Bowden said that could be at home or in hospital.
“In the past we couldn’t offer that choice, with many people unable to be cared for at home with their loved ones around them,” she added.
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