Victoria Hospital: work starts to improve gynaecology service after COVID delay

The £400,000 project will see the layout revised to provide a bespoke triage area, five side rooms, a three-bed bay area and a separate early pregnancy clinic, along with an increase in the number of in-patient beds within the ward from six to 10.

Work also includes enhancements to sound-proofing and new signage for the service.

The project was postponed because of the pandemic but is scheduled to start in February with a completion date in late Spring.

Claire Dobson, director of acute services, said: “We want to provide the very best level of service we can to patients, and we have an excellent team of clinicians and support staff within our gynaecology service. We are acutely aware of the emotional needs of patients accessing the service and have always maintained complete separation of gynaecology and maternity patients through separate exit and entry points and dedicated areas for each group.

“We have recognised for some time that we can take that even further, and not only will this work allow us to increase the number of beds within our gynaecology unit from six to 10, the enhancements will also support our highly-skilled gynaecology team in providing an excellent quality of care to women in Fife.”

The inpatient gynaecology service was previously located in Ward 32 and moved prior to the COVID-19 pandemic to a new area within the footprint of Ward 24 as part of a programme to optimise the use of the hospital’s facilities.

This allowed the medicine of the elderly ward to move to a newer part of the hospital to help improve the care of vulnerable older patients, and gynaecology to move closer to theatres and critical care.

An initial refurbishment was completed as part of this move and women have continued to have access to the full range of gynaecology services throughout.

Women attending the gynaecology service currently access through the main entrance of the hospital using separate corridors to those visiting maternity. There are distinct and different entry and exits points to Ward 24.