Health centre in fight to keep car park for patients

POLITICIANS are t o be asked to i ntervene i n a row over parking places at Kirkcaldy Health Centre.

Practice managers have started a campaign t o keep staff from Victoria Hospital out of their car park and retain spaces for sick patients.

NHS Fife chief executive Paul Hawkins has insisted NHS staff have a right to park free i n any of the organisation’s car parks and has refused to stop them.

More than 2,600 patients have signed a petition in protest at t he chaotic situation which, as a result of hospital staff parking at the health centre’s car park all day, has resulted in many people having to park several streets away then walk to visit their doctor.

A sign at the car park’s entrance, which indicated that the area was only for the use of health centre patients and staff, has mysteriously disappeared and the rumpus shows no sign of being resolved.

A statement issued by the four practice managers said a meeting between them and NHS Fife had failed to find a solution and denied claims they had cancelled previous meetings.

They said: “We intend to contact NHS Fife board members and local MSPs to ask for their assistance with our campaign to have the car park use restored to better facilitate our patients and, hopefully, reach a more satisfactory solution regarding parking.

“We are totally committed to this fight to ensure our patients can access the services we provide without having to deal with the parking problems created by NHS Fife staff and the decision of the chief executive.

“We plan to continue to move this fight forward until this is resolved.”

A spokesperson for NHS Fife said: “We continue to work with Kirkcaldy Health Centre with a view to resolving the situation.”