Kirkcaldy GP surgery: expansion plans revealed as one surgery set to close

NHS Fife has lodged an application with Fife Council to add four additional consultation rooms Path House Medical Practice. It needs the space to manage an influx of patients after the GP surgery in the town’s Nicol Street closes this summer.

The health authority wants permission to reconfigure the reception and office area as well as an extension to the existing low level block to the north.

Path House Medical Centre currently serves approximately 11,058 patients in the local area.

However, that number is set to increase by more than 6,000 patients in summer.

A supporting statement, submitted as part of the planning application, said: “Nicol Street Surgery will close on July 28, and Path House Medical Practice will be taking on Nicol Street surgery’s patients which will take the total patient number to 17,323. This means additional General Practitioner spaces and Advance Nurse Practitioners are required to be employed. To allow this to happen NHS Fife and Path House need a minimum 4No additional consultation rooms.”

Path House Medical Practice is an A-listed three story tower building dating back to 1692. Formerly listed as Dunnikier House, the name was changed to Path House after Fife Health Board restoration of 1979.

The building has seen multiple add-ons and extensions over the centuries. A circular tower and rear wing was added to the south elevation in the 19th century. When it was converted from nursing accommodation into the current medical practice in the 1990s, developers added a single storey extension to the north.

According to planning papers, the proposed additional extension “recreate the existing 1990s single storey section and do not adversely affect the amenity of the surrounding ground. The proposed consultation rooms do not affect the form or structure of the existing listed sections,” a statement continued. NHS Fife has an urgent requirement to provide additional consultation space at Path House Medical Practice.”

Councillors will consider the application in due course.