AS a voting member of the Fife Integrated Joint Board (IJB) for Health and Social Care, I have received a deluge of letters demanding that the Minor Injuries and Out of Hours (OOH) Urgent care services be re-instated at St Andrews Hospital.

But this is indeed something that affects the whole of Fife.

Most of the points made are well argued and deserve serious consideration, and I assure you that they will form a key part of the IJB’s deliberations downstream.

But there is one serious misconception that keeps cropping up, and that is that NE Fife GPs have offered to underpin a future OOH service. That is not the case as things stand, at least not on the scale or with the level of confidence required. How to overcome that?

Historically, NHS Managers have had to negotiate GP OOH commitment piecemeal, with individual GPs, often at the last moment. The service was continually at risk of failure and that isn’t a sustainable model going forward.

One solution might be if commitment was negotiated at Cluster or Practice level, with guaranteed coverage of sufficient slots. This concept raises other problems, but it is certainly worthy of examination and maybe we need more time to consult further. A deal needs to be struck that squares the legitimate needs of GPs for a sensible work/life balance, with the requirement for effective and accessible overnight care.

I support your demand for the best possible health service for our community. But the IJB can only agree a solution that is equitable, safe and sustainable across the whole of Fife. GP availability has to be part of the debate.

COUNCILLOR TONY MIKLINSKI.