A Perthshire GP practice has been saved from closure after another GP group stepped in to take it over.
It comes after 3,600 patients of the Carse Medical Practice were told their health centre at Errol could be facing the axe.
Locals and politicians campaigned to save the service.
And now NHS Tayside has confirmed a new operator has been appointed.
Deuchar Williams Health Care, a long-established Forth Valley GP training practice, will take over at the Carse from Monday September 15.
It is run by two husband-and-wife teams, with practices at Denny Cross and on the Island of Coll.
Letters are being sent to patients to advise them of the breakthrough.
NHS Tayside Operational Medical Director for Primary Care, David Shaw said: “We know that the community wanted to know about the outcome for their practice as soon as we knew it.
“The contracting process has been concluded just today.”
He said health bosses were grateful to the local community and local politicians for their feedback during the process.
Carse Medical Practice closure ‘would have been disaster’
Carse Medical Practice patients were told in April that it could be closing on September 12.
The two GPs who run the service are both retiring.
And they had been unable to find anyone to take it on.
Closure would have left the Carse of Gowrie, and its 10,000 residents, with no GP cover between Perth and Dundee.
The Invergowrie practice shut its doors in 2023.
NHS Tayside and the Perth and Kinross Health and Social Care Partnership promised to do everything in their power to resolve the crisis.
A public meeting heard the health board might even take on the running of the practice itself.
Carse SNP councillor Ken Harvey welcomed Friday’s announcement.
“This is excellent news for the Carse Medical Practice patients,” he said.
“It would have been a disaster if it had had to close.”
His Labour colleague Alasdair Bailey said the entire community in the Carse would be breathing a sigh of relief.
First Minister and Perthshire MSP John Swinney said NHS Tayside had worked “quickly and transparently” to resolve the issue.
“This is a positive outcome that ensures continuity of care for patients and guarantees that residents in the Carse will continue to be able to access reliable, local healthcare,” he added.
Practice still in ‘temporary’ base
The Carse Medical Practice has been based in a “temporary” building in the middle of a field for five years.
It was forced to quit its surgery in Errol in 2018.
The service moved to a base in St Madoes, but it was later declared unfit for purpose.
And since 2020, staff have been working out of a temporary building at Westley, near Errol.
Conservative councillor Angus Forbes said locals now needed an assurance that they will get “a proper purpose-built medical Centre in the Carse of Gowrie in the long-term”.
In a statement, Deuchar Williams Health said: “We understand the community has been through a period of uncertainty, but we would like to reassure you that we are committed to providing excellent care.
“Over the coming months and years, we hope to expand our list size to provide healthcare to more people in the Carse.”
Conversation