Patients of the Church Place practice in Moffat and surrounding areas are being informed of a change in how they will receive GP care. From the 1st of October patients are being asked to transfer to the High Street Surgery practice in Moffat.
The team at the new surgery are confident that by working closely with everyone involved they can continue to provide high quality care for all Church Place GP practice patients who are being asked to make the move.
Gary Sheehan, Locality Manager for Community Health and Social care, said:
“Building on the excellent and long service provided by Drs Gillies at Church Place surgery I am pleased to confirm that their patients will continue to have access to medical services from 1st October 2018 at The Moffat Surgery.
“Staff from Church Place surgery are transferring to the Moffat surgery and this will help us to provide continuity in care. Inevitably October will be a busy month as we transfer patients to Moffat surgery and we are urging all patients to help by only booking appointments that are absolutely necessary.
“The Moffat surgery has a team of experienced and well qualified staff but recruiting medical staff is a constant challenge. Moving forward we plan to transform primary care for Moffat surgery patients to enable them to lead healthy, safe and active lives.”
The decision to transfer the service comes after an intensive recruitment drive in recent months to secure additional GPs to work from the Moffat surgery, which also provides a satellite service at Johnstonebridge, proved to be unsuccessful. As there is not enough GP capacity to commit to provide GP clinics at Johnstonbridge, patients have been asked to attend for appointment at the Moffat surgery.
At their meeting on 27 September the Health and Social Care Integration Joint Board are being asked to support the commencement of engagement with the Johnstonebridge surgery community, local GP practices and the local GP profession to explore the options for the provision of GP services to patients who currently access services at Johnstonebridge surgery.
Following the September meeting patients affected will be contacted individually for their feedback and given the opportunity to attend drop-in sessions at the Johnstonebridge surgery.
To ensure safe and effective GP care for all patients, if a patient lives outside the current practice boundary area they will be contacted individually and supported to register with a practice nearer to their home.
