Patients of Friockheim Health Centre have been told they will be transferred to a new doctor after the GP practice’s closure was confirmed.
The last remaining GP announced in February that they would terminate their contract to run the practice after a near two-year search for replacement doctors failed.
Since then NHS Tayside has been assessing several options, including taking over the running of the practice directly, but has now confirmed the closure at the end of may.
Writing to patients about the decision, the health board said: “The main issue that is facing primary care and GP services is that there are not enough GPs.
“You may be aware that Friockheim Health Centre had been trying for a number of years to recruit more GPs without success.”
Last month, GPs in other parts of Angus said they were already struggling to cope with spiralling patients lists as practices in Forfar and Kirriemuir launched a joint objection to plans for new housing in the area.
What does closure mean for Friockheim GP patients?
NHS Tayside says it is trying to make the transfer to other practices as “seamless and easy for patients” as possible.
The health board says patients do not need to do anything.
It added: “NHS Tayside will register patients with another GP local to where they live and they will automatically transfer on June 1 to their new practice.
“We will write to patients again very soon to give the details of their new GP and some more information about the transfer.”
Politician’s concerns over lack of GPs
Scottish Conservative MSP Maurice Golden says patients in Friockheim are “paying the price” after years of warnings about staffing levels.
It follows a similar decision to close the GP practice at Ryehill in Dundee, which has also struggled to recruit new staff.
Mr Golden said: “It’s bitterly disappointing that this GP practice will close, especially as the practices to which patients are being moved appear to be already overstretched.
“What will be of wider concern is the stark admission from the health board that there simply aren’t enough GPs.
“It has been warned for years about training sufficient numbers of doctors and nurses to deal with Scotland’s ageing and increasing population.”
The Scottish Government has said it is committed to increasing the number of GPs working in Scotland by 800 by 2027, and insists it is on track to meet that.
