Victoria Hospital (Kirkcaldy)

Victoria Hospital
NHS Fife Acute Hospital Trust
approaching Victoria Hospital
Geography
Location	Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
Coordinates	56°07′30″N 3°09′36″W / 56.125°N 3.160°W / 56.125; -3.160Coordinates: 56°07′30″N 3°09′36″W / 56.125°N 3.160°W / 56.125; -3.160
Organisation
Care system	NHS Scotland
Hospital type	General Hospital
Services
Emergency department	Yes
Beds	458
History
Founded	1967
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. 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.

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. 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. 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. A site was eventually chosen around the sanatorium and fever hospital which was completed around 1899 and 1910. Construction of the new hospital began in 1955 and was completed in 1967 giving the entire complex a new name - Victoria.

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

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 These services were to be moved to Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline but the proposal was withdrawn after a severe backlash. From January 2012, all of Fife's A & E services are located at the Victoria.