ENHANCEMENTS to the Victoria Hospital's inpatient gynaecology service are set to begin next month.

The £400,000 project, which will see improvements made to the physical environment of the unit, faced delays due to Covid, but is now able to go ahead in February with completion expected in late Spring.

Claire Dobson, director of acute services, said: “The works to improve the physical environment for women using our gynaecology service has been planned for a number of years, however, the COVID-19 pandemic means we are only now in a position to begin these works.

“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."

Improvements to the service will include a revised layout 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 ten, improved sound-proofing and signage.

She continued: "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 6 to 10, the enhancements will also support our highly-skilled gynaecology team in providing an excellent quality of care to women in Fife.”