'Nobody has listened and nobody has any intention of listening' – Save Our Surgeries campaigners disappointed after crucial meeting yields no progress
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CAMPAIGNERS hoping to secure the future of surgeries in Hopeman and Burghead believe "no progress" has been made after a crucial meeting.
Save Our Surgeries demonstrators were expectant as they gathered with placards to make their feelings clear outside Moray Council's headquarters on Thursday, June 29, ahead of a meeting of the Moray Integration Joint Board (MIJB).
However, hope turned to despair for the campaigners in attendance after the meeting, as talk centred around transport issues for those travelling to Moray Coast Practice in Lossiemouth, rather than the potential reopening of the surgeries.
The only brief mention of reopening the practices came when chairwoman Tracy Colyer (Conservative, Keith and Cullen) said it was unlikely they would return "in their former guise".
Dennis Slater, who is part of the campaign team, said: "It is a kick in the teeth again – but we have got to be strong. We are not finished here.
"We are not giving in, we are going to stand up for our communities – we are talking about people's lives and people's health."
Hopeman-based Syanness Tunggal, who has a Masters Degree in public health, added: "There has been no progress. Nobody has listened to what we have to say and nobody has any intention to listen.
"We would be happy for the two surgeries to be reopened, even if not in their former state, as soon as possible. We want nurse-led surgeries with scheduled GPs every week or fortnight. We would take that, but it's not even looked at."
Melinda McGiff was another of the campaigners in attendance. She had been forced to take four buses to get to an appointment in Lossiemouth, six miles away from her Hopeman home, on the day prior to the meeting.
She left home at 9.45am for an appointment that was scheduled for 11.40am, and didn't get back home until after 2pm. Melinda, who doesn't drive, believes the only way to solve this issue is by reopening a surgery in either Burghead or Hopeman.
The main points made by Ian Macdonald, locality manager at Health and Social Care Moray, and Alison Franklin, manager at Moray Coast Medical Practice, though, focused on transport to Lossie.
The debate in the council chambers focused on the M:Connect service, although Moray councillors agreed the day prior to look at the use of that service, as some feel it may be being used inappropriately.
The M:Connect service only runs between 9.30am and 2.30pm on weekdays, and has only been used on 25 occasions this year by people travelling to medical appointments in Lossiemouth. Mr Macdonald also wasn't sure if this service would be available in the school holidays.
Campaigner Rhona Grant said: "We want to focus on getting the surgeries back open, not on transport to Lossiemouth. Their focus is on transport, ours is on getting a service for our community. They have got to get this idea off the table."
Ms Tunggal added: "They have had two years to figure out transport solutions – is their solution impossible or is their officer incompetent?
"M:Connect is not an acceptable service – it runs for two hours in the morning and an hour in the afternoon."
Simon Boker-Ingram, chief officer for the Moray Integration Joint Board, said there is a willingness to engage with communities in Burghead and Hopeman, while work on transport issues is ongoing.
"We will continue to have an open dialogue with the community," he said. "The offer from the practice to meet with members demonstrates that willingness to engage.
"Transport is important and we have been working really hard to solve those issues. Now it's about continuing to work with the community."
Ms Tunggal said the offer of a meeting, that Mr Boker-Ingram refers to, arrived the day before the MIJB meeting – when she had offered the same weeks ago. She described it as a 'tick-box' exercise.
The future of the surgeries remain unclear, but one thing for certain is that campaigners will, as Dennis Slater emphatically announced post-meeting, "keep fighting".
