Skip to main content
Loading…

Chamber and committees

Serious Concerns at NHS Fife Valleyfield Health Centre

  • Submitted by: Alex Rowley, Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour.
  • Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 May 2022
  • Motion reference: S6M-04605

That the Parliament is deeply concerned by reports from a number of west Fife villages’ community councils that patients are struggling to access health services at the Valleyfield Health Centre; understands that Valleyfield Health Centre is the busiest GP surgery in west Fife, yet only has one doctor for 4,094 registered patients; notes the reports from patients that they are struggling to get through on the telephone to book appointments and the concerns that they have raised over GPs being overworked, which could lead to difficulty in safely caring for patients or prioritising clinical need, as well as to patients falling through the cracks and not receiving the medical attention that they require; understands that west Fife villages’ community councils have been trying to get meetings with representatives of NHS Fife and have been raising what it sees as the failure of NHS Fife to provide medical services to the communities that are covered by the Valleyfield Health Centre, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and yet the situation is reportedly getting worse with little response or action from NHS Fife; considers that, for at least three years, there have been recruitment issues at the Valleyfield surgery leading to inconsistent patient service and longer waits for appointments, and believes that, if people are finding it so difficult to access basic medical services, the likely outcome is that people’s health will be suffering and will continue to do so until the situation is resolved.


Supported by: Jackie Baillie, Jeremy Balfour, Alexander Burnett, Russell Findlay, Murdo Fraser, Pam Gosal, Monica Lennon, Pauline McNeill, Mark Ruskell, Paul Sweeney, Mercedes Villalba, Annie Wells