Kilcreggan GP Dr Donal Murray will leave for a new life in Jersey on Monday, and his patients are being invited to go along and wish him well tomorrow.
Dr Oliver Corbett and all the clinical and admin staff will remain in place and the practice will be looked after by Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP).
When Dr Murray, who has been at the medical centre for five and a half years, announced his departure in May the health board said the position would be advertised in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) – but this has still not happened.
In the meantime, the partners at Garelochhead Medical Centre have announced that they will resign on September 20.
As with Kilcreggan, patients have received a letter of reassurance from the HSCP, saying locums will handle GP appointments until replacement partners are recruited, with an advert placed in the BMJ ‘in the coming weeks’.
When asked about the delay in advertising the Kilcreggan position, an NHS Highland spokesperson said this week: “There is a significant amount of work that has to be completed before we can advertise a GP contract and our primary care team have been working through this as quickly as they can.
“We hope to hold interviews with interested parties for the Kilcreggan GP contract in the near future and in the meantime the practice will be staffed with locum GPs to ensure continuity of care for patients.”
Anyone wishing to wish DR Murray well before he leaves for Jersey is invited to the Kilcreggan Medical Centre between 12 noon and 2pm tomorrow (Friday).
A Facebook post by the medical centre said: “For everyone’s safety and wellbeing (Covid is still around!) we will be outside as much as possible.
“We can’t promise warm and dry weather, but we can promise refreshments and a warm welcome.”
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