Patients packed out a public meeting to oppose the closure of the last medical practice in the Carse of Gowrie.
It was standing room only as around 150 people crammed into Errol Village Hall.
But health bosses on the panel assured locals they are doing everything possible to preserve patient care in the area.
It comes after 3,600 patients of the Carse Medical Practice learned their Errol surgery is under threat.
The two GPs are retiring and have been unable to recruit anyone to take on their jobs.
They have told NHS Tayside they intend to terminate their contract in five months.
First Minister John Swinney, who is the local MSP, also held crisis talks with NHS Tayside chiefs today.
‘Poaching’ discussed at Carse Medical Practice meeting
Wednesday night’s meeting heard the tender for the Carse Medical Practice contract was advertised that day.
Dr David Shaw, who was representing NHS Tayside, said bosses were very keen to “poach” GPs from elsewhere.
It’s also possible an existing practice might want to extend into the Carse.
A letter sent to patients by the health authority last week stated: “Carse Medical Practice will close on Friday September 12 2025.”
But residents were told NHS Tayside and the Perth and Kinross Health and Social Care Partnership are exploring a range of options to save the service.
That includes the possibility of NHS Tayside running the practice itself.
There are four of these so-called “2C surgeries” in Dundee and Angus, but none in Perth and Kinross.
Meeting hears of challenges facing Carse Medical Practice patients
Patients spoke up about the difficulty of accessing alternative health services in an area where public transport is scarce or non-existent.
One man from Rait said his community was served by one bus a week.
A GP in the audience highlighted the likely knock-on effect on existing practices in Dundee and Perth if patients are forced to register elsewhere.
The only other GP surgery in the Carse of Gowrie, at Invergowrie, closed in 2023.
And the loss of the Carse Medical Practice would leave a population of 10,000 with no access to a family doctor between Perth and Dundee.
Patients also underlined the urgency of the situation.
The Carse Medical Practice has been operating out of a “temporary” building in a field near Errol after it had to leave its former premises in the village in 2018.
One woman pointed out that NHS Tayside is now trying to find a solution in five months when it failed to come up with a permanent base in seven years.
‘Constructive conversations and community spirit’
Labour councillor and Carse Medical Practice patient Alasdair Bailey organised the meeting and chaired it with his Conservative and SNP colleagues Angus Forbes and Ken Harvey.
He told The Courier he came away from the session with a real sense that the NHS is taking the Carse emergency seriously.
“With Invergowrie, it felt like the NHS saw the closure as inevitable from the start,” he said.
“However, with the Carse Medical Practice I was really reassured to hear that the options to continue the provision locally are all being explored simultaneously, and that there’s a lot of energy on the topic from people behind the scenes at the NHS.”
Mr Forbes thanked residents for their “constructive conversations and clear sense of community spirit”.
“Access to local GP services is vital,” he added.
Speaking after his meeting on Thursday, Mr Swinney said he was confident bosses are doing all they can to ensure services continue
And he urged locals with specific concerns they’d like him to raise to contact his office directly.
Conversation