New surgery’s opening date

A temporary Carse of Gowrie medical practice should be unveiled this autumn, it has been revealed.

The current Errol practice is set to shut up shop today (Friday, April 20) and patients from along the Carse are set to relocate to St Madoes until a new temporary practice is built.

However, this may not be far away, as at a meeting on Tuesday, April 17, it was revealed that the new temporary practice may be completed as soon as September - with plans hoped to be submitted in the coming days.

Planners had wanted to have a new temporary surgery ready for the Errol practice’s closing date this month, however blueprints for a surgery on the road between Errol and Grange was withdrawn by applicants Morris Leslie.

The site, near the developer’s Carse headquarters, was deemed too out of the way by some local residents and others expressed fears over access.

In the meantime, all Carse patients have been relocated to the temporary cabin at St Madoes - which had been labelled not suitable for practice last autumn.

At the drop-in meeting, held at the St Madoes practice earlier in the week, GPs revealed that work is underway to provide a better-suited temporary surgery within six months.

Carse of Gowrie SNP elected member Cllr Beth Pover, who attended the meeting on Tuesday night, is glad to see progress.

She told the PA: “If successful, this facility will secure healthcare in the Carse of Gowrie in the longer term as plans for a more permanent resource is considered in parallel to temporary surgery.

“The Rowan Surgery in Errol will close this coming Friday as patients transfer to the St Madoes Surgery and GPs are confident that the temporary facility will be completed by September 2018.”