Care debate no place for politics

Sir, – I joined the Fife Council/NHS Integrated Joint Board, as an elected member, on Tuesday for the first time.

I listened to the arguments over out of hours urgent care coverage for Fife and north-east Fife in particular.

Should St Andrews retain that role? Should it be Victoria Hospital only, or Dunfermline as well? Glenrothes?

These are matters of critical importance to residents and my main concern was to make sure that the consultation document under discussion accurately reflected the real life constraints and viable options. We will fail the public if we are not completely honest with them on such an issue.

My motion to delay for four weeks to improve the consultation document was approved. But here’s the rub. There are those who would make political capital over this. Who would score cheap political points by “standing up” for local solutions? This is too important for that.

We don’t have enough GPs, nurses or support staff to cope with the rapidly increasing age and needs profile of our population. Working out who to hold responsible for that is a separate issue. So we must find ways to make our available resources stretch further.

There are some excellent ideas contained in the soon-to-bereleased consultation document. You will have the opportunity to make your views known. But there is no point in howling at the moon. The choices offered have to be affordable and sustainable and real. Otherwise your elected members will be guilty as charged for claiming to support solutions that are a fantasy. Cllr Tony Miklinski. Whitehill Farm, Cupar.