A senior GP has warned a shake-up at Tayside hospitals could lead to a severe downgrading of Perth Royal Infirmary.
Health chiefs have launched a consultation on the future of local surgeries, proposing to end all emergency operations at PRI.
Under the plan, all unscheduled operations would be moved to Ninewells Hospital.
NHS Tayside said this would mean a greater number of elective surgery patients can be treated in Perth and at Stracathro Hospital in Angus.
The health board is urging residents to have their say at a public meeting in Perth on Thursday.
The consultation comes amid a temporary halt on all emergency surgery at PRI. The operations are being transferred in the interim to Ninewells because of a staff shortage, NHS Tayside said.
Dr Alistair McCracken, who has been a GP in the Kinross area since 1985, has raised concerns about “further deterioration in the status of Perth Royal Infirmary”.
He said: “Over the last 20 years, the people of Perth and Kinross have witnessed the loss of inpatient services in paediatrics, gynaecology, plastic surgery, ENT (ear, nose and throat) and the reduction in services provided in obstetrics and Accident and Emergency.
“This at a time when the population of Perth and Kinross continues to expand at a rate far greater than Dundee or Angus.”
Dr McCracken said the proposed withdrawal of emergency surgery from PRI will most adversely affect rural areas such as Crieff, Auchterarder, Kinross and Highland Perthshire.
“The consultation process is flawed in that already emergency surgery has stopped at PRI without any consultation with the public or general practice,” he said.
“Given the ambulance service is under great stress already, centralisation of services in Ninewells will only affect not only patients but also family members and carers who will have to find their own way to Dundee.”
Urging locals to make their views known, Dr McCracken said: “The Scottish Government has repeatedly indicated their wish to improve the lot of the vulnerable in society, namely the poor, elderly, chronically sick and disabled.
“It is hard to see how the decline in services provided by PRI achieves that goal.”
Dr McCracken added that he found out about the halt on surgeries at PRI when he referred a patient for an emergency procedure.
NHS Tayside will hold a consultation meeting at Perth and Kinross Council’s High Street HQ on Thursday from 5pm to 7pm.
A spokeswoman said the changes were needed in the face of significant challenges, including an ageing population and a rise in the number of people with long-term and multiple conditions, as well as increasing costs and growing demand for services.
Meanwhile, local Tory politicians are holding public talks with health board chairman John Connell at Perth’s Royal George Hotel on October 3, from 7pm.
MSP Liz Smith said: “People across Perth and Kinross are quite rightfully concerned that the loss of emergency surgery at PRI will result in the hospital’s downgrading and it’s important that patients are consulted thoroughly about any changes.
“Ultimately, the creeping centralisation of health services across Scotland is bad news for rural residents and unless the coverage of ambulance services improves then there could be serious consequences for patients and family.”
