Principal’s fears over halting emergency care service overnight

Health: Concerns over ‘significant risks’ for students

St Andrews University has highlighted its “grave concern” over the controversial decision to suspend overnight outof-hours provision in the town.

In a letter to clinical director Dr Alan Mcgovern, principal and vicechancellor Professor Sally Mapstone has highlighted “significant risks” surrounding the Fife health and social care partnership’s move to switch all overnight primary care emergency services at St Andrews Community Hospital to Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital.

The move means patients in St Andrews, Dunfermline and Glenrothes have to travel to Kirkcaldy between the hours of midnight and 8am.

Contingency measures were introduced in response to staffing shortages and are to be reviewed at the end of a three-month pilot period.

But Professor Mapstone has voiced her fears over the impact it will have on the university’s 9,000-strong student body and said the institution stood ready to work with the partnership in any way it could to restore and retain out-of-

“The alternative is simply inaccessible for most students

hours services in St Andrews. “This decision is of grave concern to the university and, when reviewing it at the end of the pilot period, I would urge you and your colleagues consider the particular demographics of the north-east Fife area, in which the university’s staff and student population plays a major role,” she wrote.

“Between midnight and 8am, it is likely that many of those who use the st andrews Minor Injuries Unit will be students. Very few students have access to a car and the MIU is their only recourse for medical assessment unless they call out GPS, a process likely to place further unwanted strain on NHS resources.

“The alternative to the MIU, Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital, is simply inaccessible for most students faced with an emergency at night: there is a total absence of adequate public transport and most taxi companies do not operate after midnight.

“The only alternative for students is the ambulance service, which is already severely stretched. This situation is beset by risks to our students’ health.”

In her letter, Professor Mapstone also said the university was mindful of others in the community with additional needs – notably a significant geriatric population. She added “that out-of-hours coverage of north-east Fife from Kirkcaldy is simply not tenable from any point of view”.

Picture: Steven Brown. Professor Sally Mapstone voiced fears that the move could impact students.