NHS bosses under fire for decision not to fund doctor post
NHS Forth Valley chief executive Cathie Cowan was left in no doubt about the strength of feeling in Aberfoyle over the proposal to strip £100,000 from its medical centre.
Almost 200 people packed the Baronial Hall at the village’s Forth Inn to hear Ms Cowan and other board officials explain the reasons for the move in a two-hour public meeting arranged by Strathard Community Council
The two-centre Aberfoyle and Buchlyvie practice was thrown into turmoil last month when it emerged the board was set to withdraw funding for a salaried GP who worked alongside the other two doctors there.
GP sessions have been reduced from five to three each week and patients who phoned the medical centre last Thursday were told the first available appointment was September 17, according to community council chairperson Trevor Geraghty.
Friends of Aberfoyle and Buchlyvie Medical Centres said the board decision threatened the survival of the practice, which lost its dispensary income four years ago when the board approved plans for a commercial pharmacy in the village.
They wanted Ms Cowan to pledge to restore the funding to the practice but she failed to give such an assurance.
Instead she told the meeting: “We are conscious of our commitment to have local services in local communities.
“We will give a commitment to make sure Aberfoyle will have a functioning practice which keeps staff attracted to the area.
“Aberfoyle will stay open. That is a commitment.
“The £100k that paid for a GP is still on the table and the commitment is to use the money in a way that creates flexibility to support the general practice. Our commitment to is aid that by recruiting extra staff as part of a multi-disciplinary team.”
The chief executive said she had met the practice partners Shionagh Morrison and Andrew Cox shortly before the meeting and “began a conversation that we will work together to create sustainability in this area”.
Why are you taking money away from the practice to spread it thinly elsewhere,