Small, remote medical practices have been under sustained pressure over the last 20 years, and many of them have lost their own GP and become branch surgeries of larger town practices, which has often meant a reduction in the level of service in those communities.
Lochgilphead Medical Practice have recently announced that they are handing their contract to run Inveraray and Furnace Medical Practice back to the Health Board. The Health Board plans to advertise for partners to run the Inveraray and Furnace Medical Practice.
We believe that this represents a unique opportunity for our team to work with the patients of these communities and NHS Highland to develop services for patients of all three sites in both practices that will sustain, protect, and improve the health care of patients for decades to come.
We work closely with patients when developing services, so we are looking for patients of the Inveraray and Furnace Medical Practice to volunteer to meet with us and talk to us about how they would like to see their services run. If you would like to get involved, then let us know.
We’ve given the project the name Three Lochs Medical.
The name is linked to the practice areas of the two practices which are bounded by Loch Fyne, Loch Eck, and Loch Restin on the Rest and Be Thankful.
The name reminds us that the history and culture of our communities’ are very much linked to the lochs, especially Loch Fyne.
It also shows that our vision is not about Inveraray surgery being a branch surgery of a larger neighbour, as happened to it in 2014, but this is about a collaboration between communities of equals.
However, this is only a name for the project, and we will continue to use the original practice names if we are the successful applicant.
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