Health chiefs have confirmed the closure of Methven GP surgery.
The base will shut on January 1, 2024, leaving patients with a 12-mile round trip to Perth to see a doctor.
Perth and Kinross Health and Social Care Partnership says it is looking into travel arrangements.
But residents say they are in the dark about what comes next.
And discussions about setting up a community transport scheme, run by local volunteers, have yet to get off the ground.
The Methven surgery is a branch of the Victoria Practice in Perth.
Patients will now have to go to the Glover Street site in the city for appointments.
Travel concerns uppermost among Methven surgery patients
The closure was aired earlier this year and accepted by the Perth and Kinross Integration Joint Board this week.
Bosses at Victoria Practice said they were finding it difficult to staff appointments at Methven.
One of the practice’s full-time GPs is retiring and it has struggled to recruit a replacement or get locum cover.
There are also safety concerns for GPs who have to work alone at Methven, and costs involved in maintaining two sites.
A report put before the board on Wednesday said NHS Tayside Primary Care Services had confirmed there was “no option other than to accept the proposal of closure”.
The surgery has around 1,500 registered patients, who live in Methven and the surrounding area.
The majority – 72% – of those who responded to a public consultation on the closure raised concern about the lack of public transport between Methven and Victoria Practice.
Questions over Methven patient transport plans
One possible transport solution might be a community transport initiative run by a local volunteer group.
However, Sara Fergusson, of Methven Community Council, said residents were still waiting for confirmation that the surgery is closing.
“There was a post on Facebook about setting up a community transport group, but that’s as far as it’s got,” she said.
“Even with enough volunteers, there are all sorts of issues, around things like insurance, cost and patients with mobility problems.
“There are a lot of questions.”
The closure announcement comes four years after patients were assured there were no plans to close the Methven surgery.
NHS Tayside operational medical director for Primary Care Dr David Shaw expressed sympathy for local residents.
He said supporting a bus service for patients “would set a precedent” but IJB chairman Colin Stewart said “it would be a welcome precedent”.
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