COWDENBEATH MSP, has expressed her disappointment at being informed by Michael Kellet, Director of the Fife Health & Social Care Partnership, that the contingency arrangement covering the Primary Care Emergency Service (PCES) overnight is to be extended for six months.

This contingency arrangement means that PCES will continue to be unavailable between midnight and 8.00 am at Queen Margaret Community Hospital, Dunfermline; Glenrothes Community Hospital; and St Andrews Community Hospital, with services for the whole area being provided at the Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy. This will continue until the end of January next year.

Speaking on Thursday Ms Ewing said: “This is very disappointing news indeed, I really had hoped that the staffing issues which led to the introduction of these contingency arrangements would have been resolved by now.

“Unfortunately, that has not been the case and until GPs come forward prepared to help provide the service. Patient safety must come first and these measures will continue.

“I will certainly be taking up Mr Kellet’s offer of a meeting, indeed I have already raised concerns about transport to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy being an issue for my constituents and I will ask him again that these concerns be appropriately addressed.”

The move is a result of on-going nursing and medical staffing difficulties and has been taken to ensure patient safety, said Mr Kellett.

He added: “The on-going challenges we face have left us with no other option but to extend the contingency measures to ensure patient safety.

"We have taken and will continue to take every step available to us to try and resume services. This includes advertising to recruit Nursing and GP staff and working with GP leads to encourage our existing workforce to support the service wherever possible.”

Over the contingency period out of hours service activity has been continued to see an average of 11 people attend the Victoria Hospital overnight an average of 8 home visits.

Michael continued: “Fife, like many other areas of Scotland, is experiencing the impact of national shortages of key staff in this area.

"In response we have put in place the contingency measures to ensure a safe and reliable service. In addition, we must look at solutions to secure safe and sustainable services in the immediate and long term. This requires transformation of traditional health and social care ways of working and service models.

“We launched the Joining Up Care consultation on Monday to that end. Through the consultation we want to hear the widest range of voices possible from right across Fife. We are open to hearing ideas and suggestions as to how sustainable services can be developed at a local and Fife wide level. This includes the re-design of Out of Hours as one of three main programmes of change. The consultation will last 14 weeks and the re-design of Out of Hours care is one of three main programmes of change. I would like to pay tribute to staff in PCES for the on-going commitment to the people of Fife during this period of uncertainty and change.”