Call for ‘concrete assurances’ over plans to replace crumbling Fife health centre

One MSP said she wants to hear timescales being put in place and “something a bit more more concrete” than assurances the much needed facility it isn’t off the table.

NHS Fife has planning permission to build a new centre - it was first promised in 2011 - , but the project was halted even before it started after £13m of funding was kicked into the long grass by Holyrood in August 2023 last August, sparking a backlash from the community and politicians.

Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Cowdenbeath has continued to push the case for the money to be delivered by the Scottish Government to “fulfil the promise that it made way back in 2011 to deliver a new medical centre for Lochgelly”.

In the Scottish Parliament, she again raised the issue with Finance Minister Ivan McKee.

Ms Ewing said: “I am very conscious of the impact that underfunding from Westminster has had on a whole range of capital projects, but I will continue to press my colleagues in the Scottish Government to find way to fulfil the promise that was made way back in 2011 to deliver a new medical centre for Lochgelly.

“We are now at the stage where planning permission for a new centre has been granted, we just need the funds in place to build it.

“I note what the Minister says about awaiting the outcome of the UK spending review and I want to see some timescales put against that. I also want to hear something a bit more concrete from the Scottish Government than an assurance that they will give it ‘all due consideration’.

The centre was the subject of a packed public meeting organised by Alex Rowley MSP in the town in 2023 when over 130 people turned out, including a number of members of staff who described the David Street building as “just awful.”

They also raised concerns that the poor facilities would hamper any attempts to attract GPs to the town.

“A lot of people in the area say they can’t get seen by a doctor, but we have no further room for more doctors or patients. There’s no physical space whatsoever,” said one.