Queen Margaret: Health chiefs will deny they have plans to close hospice says retired cancer nurse

Janice Bork retired in 2016 after working in the Dunfermline hospice for decades and contacted the Press over concerns that the palliative care facility had still not re-opened and there was no word on when that might be.

Not only does Janice have direct experience of working with dozen of families with terminally-ill loved ones but she is also facing her own personal difficulties, with five of her relatives currently being treated for cancer or waiting for a diagnosis for the disease.

The Dalgety Bay resident told the Press: “Management will deny that they will be closing the hospice down.

“I sincerely hope that I’m wrong and it is not the case but I don’t believe it.

“It’s a crying shame for the people of Dunfermline.

“Remember that they’ve tried to shut it down before and they said it was not feasible.

“There seems to be a huge focus on care in the community and I am all for it – but not for cancer.”

When the Fife Health & Social Care Partnership closed the hospice at Queen Margaret they said it was to reduce the risk of coronavirus and insist there are no plans to close it permanently.

Staff from Ward 16 have been caring for palliative and end-of-life care in the community since the start of lockdown but Janice and husband Ian believe that the health board are using the crisis as a cover-up to stop the service at the hospital altogether.

“A nurse cannot be with everybody 24 hours a day in the community,” she said.

“Try to think what would happen if the hospice was to close, especially when there are more and more people with cancer.

“Family members are hanging by a thread at these times and they want to take more beds.

“If you were to get a bed at the Vic then you must think about all the families that have to come from as far as Kincardine – where is the humanity in that?

“My sister-in-law, two nieces and son-in-law have been diagnosed with cancer and my husband is being investigated for it now too.

“I don’t know how we are coping at the moment and you don’t know when we might need the hospice.”

Janice nursed her mother-in-law, who died of cancer in 2012, from home but even with her years of experience, she said she still needed support.

She added: “It was the most stressful thing because it was my family.

“As we couldn’t get her into the hospice I was making decisions by myself when I was used to having colleagues there who support each other.

“How long do you have to wait for a community nurse to help you? I tell you when your loved one dies and you’re waiting for someone to come then just two minutes feels like two hours.

“But if they’re in the hospice then nurses and doctors are always there.”

Ian Bork said: “The nurses do a great job at the hospice and everyone that has experienced Ward 16 will know that.

“You don’t need that extra pressure to travel to Kirkcaldy, especially if you don’t have transport.

“I get the impression that if they keep it closed for long enough, it will just be made a matter of fact so they can carry on like that.

“We have to do something about this.”

The Press helped stop the closure of the hospice in 2015 after 20,000 signatures objecting to the move were collected.

Dunfermline councillor Helen Law has also expressed her concern that the same thing could happen again.

She said: “I am really concerned about the future of the hospice ward at Queen Margaret Hospital. Some years ago, ward 16 was under threat and only a campaign run by local Labour Party members and supported by the Dunfermline Press saved the ward from closure.

“End-of-life care is important to patients and their families and it is imperative that those essential services remain as local as possible.

“Last time Ward 16 was under threat, Labour Party members spent weeks standing on the High Street, standing outside and inside local stores and knocking on doors, collecting well over 20,000 signatures to petition the NHS.

“The Dunfermline Press was key to the campaign promoting the need to keep our services local.

“I hope that a date for re-opening Ward 16 comes forward as soon as possible and my message to NHS Fife is that this facility will not be lost without a fight. (Again).”

The of Queen Margaret Hospice was also called into question again after an MSP called NHS Fife’s “lack of clear commitment” to re-opening it “very worrying”. 

The health board had to reassure West Fifers in July there were no plans to close the palliative care facility after the Press was contacted anonymously by a source suggesting the number of beds could be reduced. 

Fife Health & Social Care Partnership insist that there are plans to restart the service when it is safe to do so but no timescale has been given as to when that might be. 

Fife MSP Claire Baker has called into question the future of end-of-life care services in the Kingdom with controversial plans to close the Wellesley Unit at Randolph Wemyss Hospital in Buckhaven just voted through by the Fife Integration Joint Board.

Ms Baker said: “Following concerns about the future of Queen Margaret Hospice, I contacted NHS Fife seeking reassurances on plans for re-opening but, I am sorry to say, I have not been convinced by the response.

“The lack of a clear commitment to re-opening is very worrying and we cannot see the closure of units like the hospice in Dunfermline carried out under the guise of the response to COVID-19.

“It also appears unclear when or if the day beds in Kirkcaldy will re-open, and combined with the decision to close the Wellesley Unit at Randolph Wemyss, there are real questions over the future provision of palliative and end-of-life care services across Fife.

“People in end-of-life situations should be able to make a choice as to where they want to receive that care. 

“Having family members cared for at home is not an option for everyone and we need to ensure that across Fife, patients and their families can be offered end-of-life care in the setting they choose.”

Fife Health & Social Care Partnership said their position had not changed since the Press contacted them in July. 

Divisional general manager Claire Dobson said: “There are no plans to permanently close Queen Margaret Hospice. During the preparation for managing COVID-19 in Fife, a number of services were temporarily relocated to reduce the risks for those people most vulnerable to the effects of the virus. 

“As a result, some services, such as palliative care, were supported to deliver care in the community and so staff from Queen Margaret Hospice have instead been caring for people in their own homes. 

“Inpatient palliative and end-of-life care has been available at community hospitals across Fife. People have also been cared for at the Victoria Hospice in Kirkcaldy.

“Throughout our response to the pandemic, our focus has been on providing the right care, in the right place, and, like all services across the Health and Social Care Partnership, the palliative care service is developing plans to remobilise as soon as it is safe to do so.”