Dundee’s health and social care chiefs have thrown their weight behind the planned closure of a busy Stobswell GP practice.
The closure of Wallacetown Health Centre on Lyon Street would mean all patients transferring over to Douglas Medical Centre — more than two miles away — or finding a new practice.
Both locations are run by The Family Medical Group which says it often cannot safely staff the two sites.
A total of 9404 are registered with the group and the vast majority use the practice at Wallacetown — partly because services in Douglas have been reduced due to staffing struggles.
But the operators have stressed they will continue to offer the same range of services as they do now.
And all staff who are employed by the practice will remain at the new site, if the proposal is agreed.
It comes as Scotland’s GP services see a general move towards fewer but larger practices.
Practice is one of Dundee’s busiest
And the group has the third-biggest patient list of Dundee’s more than 20 practices.
Some patients have already said Douglas is too far away for them but others have been supportive.
A report to be presented to the Dundee Integrated Joint Board (IJB) has recommended the firm’s request be supported.
Members of the board, which takes decisions on the city’s joint health and social care services, will discuss the move on Wednesday.
In her report, IJB chief officer Vicky Irons says: “Operating from two sites has created difficulty not just providing appointments but in terms of ensuring the safety of both staff and patients.
“Staff working at Douglas have limited support available to them on-site due to the current staffing, which has created a potential risk to the safety of patients and staff.
“No other Dundee practice has a branch surgery.”
She added: “The practice concluded that they can provide the safest and most sustainable service to their patients by being located within the one site at Douglas Medical Centre.”
The final decision on whether to approve the closure will ultimately be taken by NHS Tayside.
Most patients located in Douglas
A map included the report shows most patients registered with the group are in close proximity to Douglas Medical Centre and concentrated nearby in the east of the city.
One of the reasons given for the move is that they are unable to upgrade the phone system at the Stobswell facility and they have promised to carry out this work at the new Douglas building.
It would mean more patients are able to get through, with unanswered calls one of the most common complaints at Wallacetown.
The practice is also looking to make some changes to the internal use of the building to maximise space use.
A consultation on the closure has already been carried out with NHS Tayside and patients.
One of the main concerns raised by patients is whether they would continue to access the same GP team and the practice has stressed this will be unaffected.
Ms Irons added: “The practice is proposing to consolidate all services on one site, allowing it to maximise the limited GP resources it has, while ensuring the safety of both patients and staff. All staff would work from the one site.
“Although there would be no direct increase in staff numbers in this context, it is anticipated that having staff on one site will increase the flexibility to support the range of demands on the team.
“It will also allow all team members to have support on site.”
In a statement the practice previously cited a GP retiral, increasing demand, and issues with the phone line as the main reasons for the proposal.
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