Save Our Surgeries group 'not going to accept decision as foregone conclusion'
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AHEAD of a crucial meeting on the future of two Moray GP surgeries, Moray MSP Richard Lochhead has met with campaigners fighting to keep them open.
The surgeries in Burghead and Hopeman have been closed since the Covid lockdown.
Patients, many of them elderly, currently face travelling to the Moray Coast surgery in Lossiemouth for appointments, despite the fact there is no direct bus link.
The Moray Integration Joint Board will meet on June 26 to make a final decision on the issue.
The communities of Burghead and Hopeman have united in recent months to form Save Our Surgeries and have organised high profile rallies and marches in both communities affected, as well as Lossiemouth and Elgin.
Following his meeting with SOS members, Mr Lochhead said: “It was valuable to meet with the committee again and it is evident that residents of the Burghead and Hopeman feel very strongly about these closures and are not going to accept the decision as a foregone conclusion. "However, they are keen to negotiate with Health and Social Care Moray to find acceptable working arrangements.
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“This issue is going to impact on many rural communities in Scotland going forward and innovative solutions need to be found.
“I am also exploring the potential for a meeting between the campaigners and Scottish Ministers and am hoping this can be arranged soon. I know that ministers are open to this which is very welcome.”
