Fife Council Labour Group has launched a petition calling on NHS Fife to drop their plans to cut the number of hospice beds in Fife.
At a special meeting of NHS Fife Board on 31 May this year, a proposal to close Ward 16 at Dunfermline Queen Margaret Hospital was tabled to achieve a saving of £322,000 by cutting the 9 hospice beds within ward 16.
At a subsequent meeting of the operational Committee on 13 July NHS Fife sought to clarify the matter by stating that the ward was not to be closed but that the palliative care services were to undergo a ‘review and redesign’. This according to Fife Labour is a ‘play of words that will result in hospice beds being cut in Fife’.
Fife Council Labour leader Alex Rowley said: “We are launching this petition to build Fife wide support against what we believe is NHS Fifes intentions to cut the number of hospice beds in Fife . While we have continued to support the development of quality services that gives people a choice if they choose to die at home, I am clear in my mind that any reduction in the numbers of hospice beds is unacceptable and will result in more people dying on wards rather than in specialised hospices where that extra and special care can be provided.”
Mr Rowley continued: “I have talked with the Chairman of the Operational Committee, Mr David Stewart and he has said that there will be a reconfiguration and service redesign which will take into account the services now available for people to die at home. In other words they want to cut the hospice beds to make a saving and this is simply not acceptable.”
The Fife Labour councillors have warned that any cut in beds in Dunfermline will also have a major detrimental impact on the availability of hospice beds in Kirkcaldy where demand they say will far outreach supply. Mr Rowley said: “There are currently nine beds in ward 16 Dunfermline and 10 beds in the hospice in Kirkcaldy with a few others in St Andrews . This is a Fife-wide issue as the impact of any cut to beds in Dunfermline will reduce the overall capacity in Fife and thus make it harder for people who need that service to get a bed. Therefore it is important that all of Fife stand united in getting a message to NHS Fife to drop this proposal and indeed look to improve this kind of provision.
“I have been contacted by people who have lost a loved one and they are concerned at the proposed reduction in beds and I have talked to people who work in this area and there is a real concern about the threat to hospice bed,” he adds.
Mr Rowley is also questioning NHS Fife’s capacity to support the hospice in Dunfermline Queen Margaret after the transfer of service to the Victoria in Kirkcaldy.
He said: “It has been suggested to me that there will not be the doctors to provide the medical care at Queen Margaret as they will have moved them all to Kirkcaldy. If this is what sits behind their desire to shut beds, then they had better think again. Many hospices across the country sit on independent sites and NHS Fife’s inability to properly plan and resource to support the future of the Dunfermline hospice must be challenged. So I hope in the coming weeks thousands will sign the petition and get the message across that our hospice beds are not up for closure.”
Fife Labour said they have been told that a paper will come before the operational committee for a decision on 18November this year.
Mr Rowley concluded: “This is an issue for all Fifers and no decision should be taken unless there has been a full consultation and all the facts laid before the public. We want to build a broad based campaign and will be contacting community groups and interested parties across Fife in the coming weeks asking them to join the campaign.”
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