NHS bosses react to Fife MP and MSP’s concerns over future of neonatal units at hospital
NHS bosses in Fife have rejected concerns that a neonatal unit at Victoria Hospital could be downgraded - or even closed.
The issue was raised by two north east Fife politicians who feared a “serious vacuum in neonatal care provision” in the region as a result.
But NHS Fife has said that the concerns of Willie Rennie MSP and Wendy Chamerlain MP for north-east Fife were unfounded as far as the Vic is concerned amid changes to neonatal services across Scotland.
In a statement, it said: “The existing unit in Kirkcaldy is not currently a neonatal intensive care unit and is already classified as a Local Neonatal Unit (LNU).
“In practice, this means that the unit cares for babies born after 27 weeks gestation, with babies born before this stage, or those which are acutely unwell, transferred by a specialist team to be cared for one of the larger specialist units elsewhere in the country.” NHS Fife said the new model for neonatal care in Scotland has been in place in Fife since 2019. It enables the most unwell babies to receive the highly specialist care they require in the earliest days and weeks after birth. The statement added: “Once their condition improves, babies return to Fife as soon as it is safe to do so, enabling their ongoing care and recovery to continue as close to home as possible.”
The politicians also spoke of their fears for the future of the same service at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, which covers north-east Fife, and raised the matter in a letter to Neil Gray, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care.
They feared the units could be closed or downgraded and warned that any such move would create a “serious vacuum in neonatal care provision for Fife and surrounding regions”, putting vulnerable newborns and their families at risk.
In their letter, they highlight that the removal or reduction of these services would force families to travel significantly further for emergency care, leaving Fife without a local fallback for high-risk births or neonatal emergencies.
The letter also raises concerns that rural and less well-resourced communities could be disproportionately impacted, and calls for the Scottish Government to urgently clarify what consultation and research has taken place before any decisions were made.
Ms Chamberlain said: “This decision would have devastating consequences for families across Fife and Tayside. Newborn babies who need urgent, specialist care simply cannot afford delays caused by longer journeys to distant hospitals.
“It’s unthinkable that Fife could be left without neonatal intensive care. Every day counts for babies born prematurely or with complications and forcing families to travel further in those critical moments is simply unacceptable.”
Mr Rennie added: “People in North East Fife will find it hard to accept that parents with babies needing intensive care will be expected to travel further from home in such difficult circumstances.
“Withdrawing these services entirely from Fife and Tayside would be a dramatic overhaul of the current arrangements and would leave a large part of the country without a unit in the local area. The Scottish Government must clearly set out the rationale and necessity for any changes otherwise they risk jeopardising public confidence.”