Health chiefs urged to find permanent home for at-risk Errol GP practice

The Carse of Gowrie's only GP centre is in a temporary building outside Errol

By Kathryn Anderson Local Democracy Reporter

April 26 2024, 11:31am

Campaigners say Carse patients deserve a more permanent solution than the current Errol GP building. Steve MacDougall / DC Thomson.

Health chiefs are being urged to speed up the search for a permanent base for the Carse of Gowrie’s only GP surgery.

The Carse Medical Practice is located in a temporary building in the middle of the countryside at Westleys just outside Errol.

It was opened as a stopgap measure in 2020 after the former surgery in St Madoes was deemed unfit for purpose.

But four years on it is still in operation.

View of Carse Medical Centre temporary buildings in field — The Carse Medical Centre is in a field near Errol Airfield. Image: Steve MacDougall / DC Thomson.

And following last year’s closure of Invergowrie Medical Practice, it is now the only heath centre in the whole of the Carse.

Now local councillors are stepping up pressure for a permanent solution amid fears its future could be in jeopardy.

It comes after a report to Perth and Kinross Council’s scrutiny and performance committee this week said there was an amber risk in terms of the sustainability of general medical services in the area.

People standing around a digger in a muddy field near Errol — Sod cutting for the temporary new GP surgery near Errol in 2018.

Councillors Alasdair Bailey and Angus Forbes said they were seeking a meeting with the Errol GP practice partners to find out what they need.

Errol GP practice in a field with ‘woeful’ public transport

Speaking after the meeting, Labour councillor Alasdair Bailey said: “I was deeply concerned to hear that the Carse Medical Practice is again facing a degree of jeopardy.

“The area only just lost the Invergowrie practice last year and to lose the practice by Errol too would leave the ward with no doctors at all.”

He said the current building was inadequate and NHS Tayside and the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) had failed to address the issue.

ALasdair Bailey arms crossed outside St Madoes surgery — Councillor Alasdair Bailey outside the former GP surgery in St Madoes. Image; Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson.

“We now face a situation where doctors and patients have to track along to a temporary building in the middle of a field outside Errol with woeful public transport and walking connectivity,” he said.

Conservative councillor Angus Forbes agreed.

He said: “We are seeking a meeting with the partners of the medical practice to understand what their plans are and what we can do to help them.

“This is an excellent medical centre with two highly respected GPs who provide very high quality care to their patients and I will do whatever I can to make sure that continues.”

A Perth and Kinross HSCP spokesperson said: “We recognise that the Carse of Gowrie Medical Practice, which currently operates from temporary premises near Errol, requires suitable fit-for-purpose accommodation.

“We continue to explore suitable permanent alternative properties within the immediate area.”