GP surgery to shut leaving 4,000 patients in limbo

THOUSANDS of patients face uncertainty over their healthcare as a Capital GP surgery sets to close.

Address: 43 Inverleith Row, Edinburgh EH3 5PY Doctor's surgery set to close

Both partners of Inverleith Medical Practice, Inverleith Row, are set to resign this summer for personal reasons.

It means health bosses are desperately trying to find alternative arrangements for 4,000 patients.

Rob McCulloch-Graham, Joint Director of Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership, said: “The GP Partners at Inverleith Medical Practice have informed us that, as a result of personal circumstances, they plan to resign from their contract with NHS Lothian this summer.”

He added that work is ongoing to ensure surgery patients continue to get “safe, effective and timely care.”

The Evening News reported last year on a family healthcare crisis that has resulted in 31 of the region’s 127 surgeries limiting the number of patients they take - amounting to nearly one in four.

Inverleith Medical Practice was among those struggling to cope before partners Dr Peter Stewart and Dr Max Inwood decided to quit.

The building, believed to be worth about £1 million, will be reportedly put up for sale by the doctors when they leave.

GP services are facing a crisis nationally with one in three doctors considering retirement in the next five years, according to the British Medical Association.

Mr McCulloch-Graham added of Inverleigh: “A range of options for future GP care in the area are being considered and Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership and NHS Lothian, will be supporting the practice team to help reassure patients during this period.”