NHS Fife under pressure to tackle huge rise in A&E numbers at Victoria Hospital

The call comes from Claire Baker MSP as she prepares to meet health bosses on Friday.

Almost 15,000 people flocked to A&E between March and mid-May – a huge rise of 650 on the same period in 2018, and 1000 up on 2017.

That has hit waiting times targets with reports of one patient waiting over 12 hours to be dealt with.

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Ms Baker has called on NHS Fife to take an urgent look at the reasons behind the rise – and fears the on-going struggle to tackle the out of hours closure service elsewhere in Fife may be a factor as all patients across the region are directed to the Vic.

She said: “Patients should not be waiting beyond the waiting time target from arrival to admission, discharge or transfer.”

“It is not good enough for NHS Fife to suggest increased attendance at A&E is a fault of patients not knowing what the service is for.

“Saying the public is to blame is unacceptable when patients are currently subject to contingency measures and uncertainty around the availability of Out of Hours Services.

“This uncertainty is compounded by the failure of NHS Fife to provide accurate and up to date information about this service on its own website.”