Save Our Surgeries campaign group reacts to Hopeman and Burghead doctors surgeries closure following Moray Integration Joint Board (IJB) meeting
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A LOCAL campaign group has expressed disappointment at the decision for two Moray doctors surgeries to remain closed.
Save our Surgeries has been fighting against the recommendation to permanently close the two practices in Hopeman and Burghead.
The decision to keep the surgeries closed was made at a meeting of the Moray Integration Joint Board (IJB) last Thursday, January 26.
However, the IJB amended the original recommendation to permanently shut the surgeries, instead approving their closure for the foreseeable future with a review planned to take place in six months.
The campaign group say they still have many unanswered questions about the decision.
A spokesperson for the Save our Surgeries group said: “This decision leaves Hopeman, Burghead, Cummingstown and Roseisle, a community with a population twice as big as some other villages in Moray, without its own local surgery. The community is now demanding honest answers.
“It was clear during the meeting the main reason to close the surgeries was the unwillingness of the Moray Coast Practice to return to work at the surgeries.
“Why aren’t they willing to listen to what the communities have been saying? All the consultation meetings and the surveys carried out strongly rejected the proposal to close the surgeries.
“The final survey indicated that 85 percent of the population rejected the idea. So, why did the consultant and the practice conduct these meetings and surveys, using already strained resources available to the NHS, without any intention of listening?
“Lastly, there is no direct route between Burghead or Hopeman to Lossiemouth, so clients may face a three or four hour round trip via Elgin to attend their medical appointment.
“Stagecoach will not commit to providing a service, the community dial-a-bus requires 24 hours notice and, although the Hopeman Community Bus has offered to help, why should our community facilitate the bus?
“A taxi service was mentioned but relying on anything other than a regularly-funded transport alternative is not a sustainable way to manage health care.
“These communities deserve better and a solution needs to be found, now.”
The amendment to plans for a permanent closure was proposed by Councillor Tracy Colyer (Keith and Cullen, Conservative) and focused on ensuring digital health technology and suitable transport are provided to residents.
Cllr Colyer said: “The reality is that Moray Coastal Medical Practice simply will not staff these surgeries.
“Having attended community council meetings, I know how passionate local residents were about keeping them, but ultimately that has not proven to be possible.
“That is why I was so determined to find practical solutions to support patients going forward.
“I am extremely pleased that fellow IJB members backed my plans to enhance digital health technology in the area, as well as exploring future transport provision.”
Moray’s SNP MSP Richard Lochhead added: “This decision will come as a real blow to residents and is a big step backwards. Many patients in Burghead and Hopeman will be concerned about accessing GP services going forward.
“I will continue to push for other solutions to be explored to ensure GP services are easily accessible for everyone living in these communities.”
The Save Our Surgeries group plan to reach out to Moray Coast Medical Practice in hope of receiving answers to their questions and hope the practice will be willing to engage with the community further to find the solutions.
They added: “We, The Save our Surgeries group, are not going to walk away, with the support of all the clients affected we will fight on.”
