Councillors are asking questions of NHS Tayside after their constituents were told Invergowrie Medical Centre is closing its doors to patients in just over four months’ time.
Primary care services manager Deborah McGill wrote to registered patients last week informing them the surgery will close on June 16 blaming difficulties in recruiting doctors.
The news came as a shock to local councillors as they were not warned the move was coming before they started receiving worried messages from patients wondering where they will have to go to see a GP when the centre closes.
Ms McGill assured patients in her letters that the surgery will continue to be “fully operational” until June 16 and they do not need to take any action as a result of the announcement as work is already under way to move patients to other practices.
Two councillors have now written to NHS Tayside bosses to see if they will step in to keep the practice open and if not whether they will consult with patients to see where they would prefer to go to see a GP in future.
Councillor Angus Forbes told the PA: “The first I heard that this practice was to close was when I started to get phone calls and emails from constituents telling me they had received letters in the post that day. All I could say was that I knew nothing about the closure.
“I have now asked NHS Tayside if they will consider running the practice themselves which I understand is an option for them or at a very minimum consult with the patients about which practice they are being transferred to.
“Invergowrie practice is right in the middle of the village and is easily accessible to almost everyone. Any new GP practice will be at least a bus ride away and possibly more than one which is a real problem for elderly or disabled people - it would be wrong for them to be transferred to a new practice without any choice in where they are going.
“I have also written to the chief officer of the health and social care partnership asking why elected members were not told in advance of the decision so that we could be ready to assist constituents when the letters arrived.”
Councillor Alasdair Bailey added: “I’m shocked to hear that Invergowrie Medical Centre is to close without prior consultation with local people.
“I’ll be asking serious questions of the health board and health and social care partnership about the lack of consultation on this move and what the future of GP provision looks like for the Carse of Gowrie.
“The nearby GP surgery at Errol is still only a temporary building in the middle of a field. Therefore this whole area is well overdue some attention from the powers that be.
“I’m told that a Healthcare Needs Assessment has to be performed before the NHS will invest in a permanent facility. I’ll be asking when that’s going to happen.”
An NHS Tayside spokesperson commented: “We have written to patients at Invergowrie Medical Centre ... to advise that the practice has given notice to terminate its contract with NHS Tayside.
“As with many practices across Scotland, Invergowrie Medical Centre has been affected by the national shortage of GPs.
“When a practice gives notice to stop providing services, NHS Tayside has a responsibility to ensure that safe primary care services are provided to the local population.
“NHS Tayside, Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership and Perth and Kinross Health and Social Care Partnership are working together to ensure that patients registered at Invergowrie Medical Centre will have continued access to GP and primary care services from June 16. We will contact patients once details have been finalised.”
John Swinney, MSP for Perthshire North, said: “It is vital that local residents have access to high-quality medical care in their own community.
“To that end, I have written directly to NHS Tayside to voice my opposition to this proposed closure and to urge senior stakeholders to explore all possible avenues to save this vital local service.”
