Question:
NHS Fife is asked to confirm whether staff from the National Treatment Centre in Fife were recently transferred into the main hospital to assist with trauma cases.
If so, the health board is asked to explain why this was necessary and how often this has happened.
Response:
A spokesperson for NHS Fife said:
“Clinical staff working in orthopaedics in Fife regularly rotate to work across both trauma and elective surgery. At the Victoria Hospital, trauma surgery is performed within our main theatres and elective orthopaedic procedures are carried out within the National Treatment Centre (NTC). Both trauma surgery and elective procedures are also carried out at Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline.
“In recent weeks we have seen a surge in the number of patients requiring urgent surgery for orthopaedic trauma. On Tuesday 06 June, it was necessary to postpone four elective procedures planned in one of the three theatres within the NTC to enable one of our orthopaedic surgeons to support our urgent trauma list. All of those whose procedures were postponed have since been rescheduled.
“The decision to postpone elective procedures is never taken lightly, and we are continually working to maximise the number of patients we can see safely for surgery. Where there are sharp or significant increases in the number of patients awaiting trauma surgery, additional trauma lists are put in place in the interests of patient safety. While it is unusual to postpone elective procedures to support urgent trauma, there are occasions where it is necessary to reprioritise staff to ensure the continued delivery of safe patient care.”
[ENDS]
