Victoria Hospital (Kirkcaldy)

Victoria Hospital
NHS Fife Acute Hospital Trust

approaching Victoria Hospital
Geography
Location Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
Organisation
Care system NHS Scotland
Hospital type General Hospital [1]
Services
Emergency department Yes
Beds 458 [2]
History
Founded 1967 [2]
Links
Website http://www.nhsfife.org/victoria
Lists Hospitals in Scotland

Victoria Hospital is a large hospital situated to the north of the town centre in Kirkcaldy, in Fife, Scotland. As one of two main hospitals in Fife, this serves both the town and surrounding Mid-Fife area. The Victoria is run by NHS Fife.

The hospital consists of three wings: East, West and South and a main tower block. An adjacent Maggie's Centre is also located within the grounds. In 2012 a new wing opened, which includes a new accident and emergency department; maternity unit and eleven new operating theatres.[1] It serves as a teaching hospital to students from the University of St Andrews School of Medicine, the University of Edinburgh Medical School and the University of Dundee Medical School.

History

After the Second World War, there was demand for a more centralised and bigger hospital to be built in the town to be able to deal with the strains caused by a burgeoning population.[2] This was going to replace the cottage hospital situated to the east of the town which had served as the main hospital in the town since 1890.[3] The original site for the new hospital had been planned for the cottage hospital, but a lack of space for the expansion proved fertile to these plans.[4] A site was eventually chosen around the sanatorium and fever hospital which was completed around 1899 and 1910.[2][4][5] Construction of the new hospital began in 1955 and was completed in 1967 giving the entire complex a new name - Victoria.[2]

Previously organisations that have run the hospital include Fife Acute Hospital NHS trust from 1999 to 2004, formerly the Kirkcaldy Acute Hospital trust.[6]

The hospital was threatened with the possible loss of its A & E Department in 2005. These services were to be moved to Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline but the proposal was withdrawn after a severe backlash.[7] From January 2012, all of Fife's A & E services are located at the Victoria.[8]

Services

The hospital provides many facilities for the catchment area including an A & E department; ear, nose and throat (ENT) unit; anaesthesia; obstetrics and gynaecology; paediatric surgery; mental health services; infectious diseases and operating theatres.[9] Whyteman's Brae Hospital which is part of the complex caters for psychiatry and elderly patients.[9][10]

Maggie's Centre, Kirkcaldy

The hospital also has an adjacent Maggie's Centre to support people who are diagnosed with cancer. Known as Maggie's Fife, it opened in November 2006. The centre is a single storey construction, shaped like a prism, was designed by Zaha Hadid, and was her first completed building in the United Kingdom.[11] and shortlisted for the Scottish Design Awards.[12] The money for the project was raised via the Fife Free Press' Maggie's Appeal.[13]

A radio station known as the Victoria Radio Network (VRN 1287) has been on the air since 1971. VRN is now considered one of the UK's longest running and successful hospital radios still on air. In 2002, the station was awarded a license to broadcast on medium wave 1287 kHz (AM) and transmits 24-hours a day.

The hospital was criticised after an unannounced Healthcare Environment Inspectorate visit in December 2014 which slammed the "serious nature" of its problems with cleanliness.[14]

Transport

Victoria Hospital is situated to the north of the town centre. There are main bus routes that serve the catchment area for the hospital particularly from Glenrothes, Leven and from the railway station. Bus stances can be found adjacent to the east wing entrance and on the opposite side of the road.[15]

Hospital extension

A major new wing to the south of the current tower block started in 2007 and was completed in 2010 as part of plans to centralise acute services by the NHS trust at this hospital.[1] This included an emergency care centre, maternity unit (to replace those in Forth Park), critical care, coronary care, ultrasound department and 11 new operating theatres. A new A & E department will form part of the new development, among other re-located services. The area surrounding the hospital will include signal controlled junctions; a new mini-roundabout and a possible park and ride system to prevent traffic gridlock in the area. New car spaces will also be provided at both the north and south ends of the hospital.[16][17]

The new wing was officially opened in August 2012 by Nicola Sturgeon, although services had transferred to the new wing in three separate phases. Initially several services based on the Victoria site had relocated there in December 2011. Services then transferred across from Forth Park Hospital, Kirkcaldy, in January 2012, followed in the same month by a number of services from Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline.[18]

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 "NHS Fife publications" (PDF).
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "A brief history of Victoria Hospital" (PDF). sepa. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2004. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
  3. ↑ "Kirkcaldy's history through the decades". Fife Free Press. Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
  4. 1 2 Eunson Old Dysart and East Kirkcaldy p.28.
  5. ↑ Eunson Bygone Kirkcaldy p.50.
  6. ↑ "Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy". nursingnet.uk. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  7. ↑ "4200 good reasons to back 'The Vic'". The Fife Free Press. 14 February 2002. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  8. ↑ "Fife's major accident and emergency change starts on Thursday". The Courier. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Hospital facilities in Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy". specialist info. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  10. ↑ "Whyteman's Brae Hospital". Fife Council. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  11. ↑ "Maggie's centre Fife". Zaha Hadid Architects. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  12. ↑ "Zaha Hadid". edinburgh architecture. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  13. ↑ "We've done it – our Maggie's Centre is here!". The Fife Free Press. 2 November 2006. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  14. ↑ "NHS Fife tables action plan after damning inspection". Dunfermline Press. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  15. ↑ "Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy" (PDF). NHS Fife. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  16. ↑ "road network rethink". The Fife Free Press. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  17. ↑ "park and ride". The Fife Free Press. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  18. ↑ "Official Opening of New Wing at Victoria Hospital". NHS Fife. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2014.

Bibliography

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