The loss of the NHS Fife patients’ forum amid a shake-up of hospital services “defies all logic,” a health board member has said.
John Winton said phasing out the group, which gives patients a voice on operational issues, was “ridiculous” at a time when services will soon be moved to the new wing at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy. NHS Fife plans to break up the group and incorporate members into three community health partnerships.
Mr Winton said the change had been sprung on forum members without any consultation and accused NHS Fife of trying to “shut up the public.”
“When they are starting something new that is not the time to break up a group like this,” he said. “It defies all logic. How well the opening of the new unit and changes will go remains to be seen if they are opening up a new unit there are going to be day-to-day problems.
“If I’m going to be cynical about it, people might say they are trying to shut up the public. This has been badly handled from the start.”
Established in 2001, the nine-strong forum meets once a month to scrutinise issues from hospital bus services to infection control. Forum chairwoman Hilda Johnston fears the loss of the group is a “fait accompli” but said a last-minute bid would be made to save it.
“We’re not very happy with the way it was done,” she said. “It’s a fait accompli. We didn’t officially know until April, when they said this is what’s going to happen.
“Three of us have been on this group since it started. We’ll be fighting this all the way.”
An NHS Fife spokeswoman denied the forum would be “phased out” and said it will be integrated into statutory public partnerships.
“The patient forum is not part of statutory arrangements for patient focus and public involvement in Scotland,” she said. “The forum was developed in a time when there was no statutory guidance regarding patient-public involvement.
“We seek to keep the patient and the local population at the centre of our focus as we forge closer links across hospital and community-based services providing seamless care for patients, which can be one of the challenging aspects of delivering care.”