A petition has been launched in an attempt to save a Perthshire village surgery from closure.
Stunned Invergowrie Medical Practice patients were told last month the health facility would shut permanently on June 16.
An inability to recruit following retirements at both the Ancrum and Invergowrie practices has now left a single GP managing both practices.
That GP did not feel that this was safe or sustainable, so they chose to resign from the Invergowrie contract.
The announcement of the closure was met with concern from patients and local politicians, with Perthshire North MSP John Swinney saying he was “deeply disappointed”.
But village is fighting back with Carse of Gowrie councillor Alasdair Bailey launching a petition to galvanize local support to keep the practice open.
The petition has over 350 signatures so far.
He said: “I really wanted to get public support out there on for the surgery in Invergowrie.
“It is very important to have a GP surgery in the village rather than residents attending other GPs elsewhere.
“There are no good direct bus routes to the other nearest GPs.
“For example to get to the Errol surgery it is a long bus journey and they do not come along very often.
“The NHS is assessing a number of options. But I want to show there is support for keeping it open.”
The council Bailie believes that NHS Tayside should take over direct operation of the practice instead of leasing it to an independent physicians.
Lochee and Maryfield practices in Dundee and Abbey and Brechin practices in Angus are run directly by NHS Tayside.
“How many GPs in Perthshire have closed in recent years? he queried.
“There are two GPs in Dundee and two in Angus that the NHS has taken direct operation of - but there are none in Perth and Kinross.”
Surgeries in Bridge of Earn and Blair Atholl are the highest profile closures in Perthshire in recent years with
no intervention forthcoming to save them.
Cllr Bailey stood outside the Invergowrie GP last Thursday, gathering signatures and listening to concerns from villagers.
“I have been pleasantly surprised by the support,” he explained.
“A good number showed up.It is really important to have the GP close to people’s homes. If we make GPs too remote for people we run the risk that they will just not go at all.
“People have grown up with the surgery there and people are really frustrated it is closing.
“It is a fight worth fighting.”
The NHS taking over operations is one of five options currently being considered by a new group comprising NHS Tayside senior members and Perth and Kinross and Dundee health and social care partnerships.
The four other options include another GP practice taking over the practice contract, merging with another independent practice, merging with one of the two Dundee practices already operated directly by NHS Tayside and closing the practice before dispersing patients to other GPs.
The outcome of the options appraisal will be presented to Perth and Kinross and Dundee IJBs .
As practice contracts are held at Health Board level, the final decision on the option(s) to be taken forward will be made by NHS Tayside.The practice will remain operational until the proposed closure date in June.
Cllr Bailey’s petition will close on Wednesday, April 5 and can be found at https://bit.ly/3n4unJL.
Signing sheets will be available at Inchture and Longfortan Post Offices plus the Post House Coffee Shop in Invergowrie until Wednesday.
