The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Palliative care beds face axe at Buckhaven hospital.
Integration joint board to decide fate of services at meeting tomorrow
Ten palliative care beds at a Fife community hospital are likely to be axed amid fears for patient safety.
Members of the region’s integration joint board will be asked to sanction plans to close the Wellesley Unit at Randolph Wemyss Memorial Hospital in Buckhaven, when they meet tomorrow.
The health and social care partnership said it had been unable to recruit a doctor to provide medical cover on the ward after a local GP practice announced it could no longer do so.
It is the second time in a year the unit has faced the same challenge and officers insisted the current model of care was no longer sustainable.
Divisional general manager Claire
Dobson said most of the patients traditionally looked after in the ward could be supported at home or in a care home.
She acknowledged, however, the impact on the 22 staff would be significant and said work to support them was ongoing.
The blow comes a week after the partnership said it was consulting patients, families and staff about the future of the unit, which provides endof-life care and transitional care for people waiting for social care provision.
Fife Council’s health and social care spokesman, Buckhaven Labour councillor David Graham, said last week he understood the closure would be temporary and asked officers to look at options for its long-term future.
IJB chairwoman SNP councillor
Rosemary Liewald said: “Safety remains our top priority and we must ensure that we can deliver the best possible care in the right setting for each and every patient.
“There have been ongoing challenges maintaining safe medical staffing in the Wellesley Unit and we have been engaging with staff, patients and their families on the future of the unit.
As well as the Wellesley Unit, Randolph Wemyss Hospital provides a range of services including a men’s health clinic, sexual health clinic and integrated paediatric services, which are not under threat.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “We are fully committed to a sustainable NHS which continues to deliver a consistently high quality healthcare service.
“While we provide the policies, frameworks and resources for high quality healthcare, it is for each NHS board to decide how best to utilise funding, facilities and staff to meet local health needs.”