CANCER PATIENTS missed out on operations after Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy was swamped with winter admissions, The Courier can reveal.
Surgery got under way again on Thursday, after being cancelled for two days.
NHS Fife medical director Dr Brian Montgomery said: “NHS Fife, like other boards across Scotland, has been under increasing pressure in recent weeks.
“This has required us to open additional beds and bring in extra staff to meet demand.
“Patients are being admitted with a variety of winter illnesses that are associated with this time of year.
“As part of our winter plan to manage the extra demand on our services 58 elective in-patient surgeries at Victoria Hospital site were postponed on January 8 and 9.
“This figure included eight cancer patients.
“All emergency surgery has continued as normal.
“Postponed surgery has already been rescheduled within existing surgery lists.
“All elective in-patient surgery went ahead as planned on January 10 and 11.”
It is understood there has been an increase in respiratory infections over the winter, but there were no indications from NHS Fife that norovirus or flu had caused significant problems.
Fife Council’s executive health spokesman Councillor Andrew Rodger said social work staff had worked hard to help elderly people return home so beds could be freed up for incoming patients.
He made a plea for more Scottish Government funding to ease the pressure on health boards.
He said: “We put an extra team of people into the hospital to help support them as much as possible.
“Social work staff came in and put things in motion to get as many people out of hospital as possible and free up beds.
“The health budget in the acute sector is £7.5 million overspent and social work is £4.5m overspent.
“What I’ve been saying, loud and clear, is that for both health and social work there is not enough money to meet demand.”