A north east Fife GP practice is finally preparing to reopen to patients six months after a serious flood.
Tayview Medical Practice was forced to close its Tayport surgery in October as a result of the incident.
And patients have had to travel to Newport for face-to-face appointments ever since.
However, an extensive programme of repairs is almost complete and services should return to normal later this month.
The practice has seven GPs, a team of nurses and other health staff as well as office workers.
Relief at reopening of Tayview Medical Practice
Taybridgehead councillor Jonny Tepp said he was relieved to hear normality would be restored after a difficult period for Tayport patients.
“It was closed during the lockdown because it wasn’t suitable for use during the pandemic,” he said.
“It did reopen for a while but then they had a flood and closed again in the aftermath of that.
“It’s taken some time.”
Mr Tepp said the ongoing closure had been a source of unhappiness in Tayport.
“It means patients have to travel through to Newport,” he said.
“There is a bus service but it’s quite lengthy and it’s not terribly frequent.
“We’ve been concerned about people having to wait for a bus when they’re poorly.”
He added: “I’m very pleased to hear they’re almost ready to reopen because I’ve been trying to find out what’s happening for some time.”
Considerable damage
An NHS Fife spokesman confirmed the Tayport surgery would open soon.
He said: “Tayview Medical Practice suffered considerable damage as a result of flooding in October 2021.
“Patient services were maintained throughout this closure from the practice’s other site in Newport-on-Tay.
“The damage sustained meant that the practice had to carry out an extensive programme of repairs on the building.
“With these remedial works and the subsequent refurbishment now nearing completion, the practice in Tayport is due to reopen as planned later this month.
“We thank the practice’s patients for their understanding over recent months while these extensive repair works have been carried out.”
