Tuesday 13 January 2009

New scanner is simply not enough

The Health Minister officially opened the new MRI scanner at Queen Margaret Hospital today.

There is still a lot of bitterness in West Fife that Kirkcaldy was chosen over Dunfermline for Fife’s main specialist hospital. I have been pressing to secure many more services for Queen Margaret as I don’t want people for West Fife to have to travel to Kirkcaldy unless it is absolutely necessary.

Although the new MRI scanner, which is being installed ahead of schedule, is welcome it is simply not enough. Medical advances are being made all the time which will allow more services to be delivered without trauma and critical care back up. Local people I speak to want those services at Queen Margaret and they don’t want to wait years for them to be delivered.

At the last Scottish Parliamentary Election the SNP’s representative promised to reverse the “downgrading” of Queen Margaret. Only weeks after the election the Health Secretary rejected that. If she is not going to deliver on her candidate’s promise she should at least provide the additional services that our hospital needs and deserves.

1 comment:

  1. This really annoys me. I was injured on the train from kirkcaldy to dunfermline. The driver continued on to dunfermline which is standard procedure and I was offloaded to an ambulance only to be taken back to kirkcaldy. There is only one way to describe it, and i appologize willie! ITS A BLOODY DISCRACE!!!

    Last time I looked, Dunfermline was growing faster than Kirkcaldy because of our close proximity to edinburgh. That expansion is only going to get bigger and happen faster. We need the facilities to ensure that the people of Dunfermline get the treatment they need, when they need it. Healthcare is not just another item for the government to quable over, it's a matter of a persons health. 20 minutes by ambulance could have serious consequencies for people needing immediate care.

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