A GP practice caught fire yesterday morning when a man crashed his car into the building.
No one was hurt in the incident, which happened at 2am in the morning when the practice was closed, but rescue services still had to launch a full-scale evacuation of patients and staff because the practice is co-located in a community hospital.
NHS Fife said the GP surgery in St Andrews Community Hospital was significantly damaged but no patients or staff were hurt, reports STV.
The police have taken a 27-year-old man into custody who will appear in court in relation to road traffic offences at a later date.
NHS Fife said it was ‘in the process of trying to contact patients with existing GP appointments to make alternative arrangements’.
A spokesperson said: ‘We would like to reassure our patients and members of the public that whilst there has been significant damage to an area of the building, our patients and staff are safe.
‘We have put in place contingency plans to ensure the continued provision of high quality care and we are working to return services to normal as soon as possible.’
Police in St Andrews said that although it was no doubt a ‘frightening experience’ for inpatients and staff, things could have been a lot worse.
Sergeant Pat Turner said: ‘It was extremely fortunate that the part of the building with which the vehicle collided was not being used at that time. But this incident had the potential for much more serious consequences.’
Strangely enough, this is not the first time a car has crashed into a GP practice, and Dr Michael Banna has written for Pulse on what he learned when it happened to him.
