Acharacle Medical Practice The Pines Medical Centre Acharacle, Ardnamurchan, Argyll, PH36 4JU

Surgery Times

The surgery times shown below may be subject to change due to annual leave
CONSULTATION BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
Please ring 01967 431231 to make an appointment
Kilchoan patients please ring 01972 510202 to make an appointment

Acharacle Surgery

Strontian Surgery

Kilchoan Doctor's Surgery

Specialist Nurse Clinics

 

News from Acharacle Medical Practice – 2nd May 2012

It is with sadness that the Partners in Acharacle Medical Practice; Dr Colebrook, Dr Topham and Mrs Colebrook, confirm that we have given notice to the Health Board that we will all be leaving the Practice on Friday 31st August 2012.

The decision to leave has ultimately been a personal one for each of us and has been extremely difficult to make. We each have our own reasons, however, there is no doubt that General Practice has changed significantly in recent years. The demands upon GPs are greater than they used to be, which mean that it is no longer possible to work in the ways that GPs used to do, particularly in remote and rural areas.

Between them, Dr Colebrook and Dr Topham have worked day and night for almost 4 years, sometimes in difficult circumstances. Providing modern, effective Primary Health Care services, as well as responding to emergencies over the three sites of Acharacle, Strontian and Kilchoan mean that the management of the Practice is complex. Successfully providing these services is highly dependent upon the personal resilience of the 2 Doctors.

Younger doctors will just not consider working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is evidenced by that fact that there is real difficulty recruiting new GPs to remote and rural Highland Practices, where responsibility for Out of Hours cover remains within a Practice. Indeed, on the rare occasion where we have needed to obtain locum cover for this Practice, we have found it extremely difficult to do so.

In an effort to make the Practice more sustainable, in November 2011 we gave notice to the Health Board that the Practice wished to opt out of the provision of Primary Medical Care during the Out of Hours period (overnight from 6 pm to 8.30 am and at weekends). Although the Health Board has made some efforts to reduce this burden, they have not accepted full responsibility for Out of Hours services. Therefore, the responsibility for the provision of Out of Hours care has remained on the shoulders of Drs Colebrook and Topham.

We are all people with families and personal needs to consider. The personal strain that has been taken by the 3 of us in order to develop and provide a modern, quality medical service for our patients has been considerable and is not sustainable in the longer term. Therefore, we feel we have been left with no option but to resign.

We would like to say that we have all enjoyed working in this beautiful area, with such a fantastic team of staff. It has been a joy to work with a team of people who will always put the needs of patients first and on a daily basis ‘go the extra mile’ to accommodate individual people’s circumstances. All of this is accompanied by a smile guaranteed to brighten everyone’s day.

We believe that the systems we have put in place mean that the Practice runs highly effectively despite, at times, challenging circumstances. The Health Board has a responsibility to ensure continuity of Primary Health Care provision for our patients. They will, therefore, be responsible for recruiting new Doctors to the Practice and for putting in place management to replace Practice Manager, Julie Colebrook. We would like to reassure you that we will do all that we can to ensure a smooth transition.

We would like to thank all our patients and friends for their kind words and encouragement over the past few years. We are sad to be leaving and will treasure the time that we have spent here.

With best wishes for the future,
Rob Colebrook, Simon Topham and Julie Colebrook

 

 

 

Out of Hours & Emergency Calls
If you require a Doctor out of hours or in an emergency please telephone the surgery on 01967 431231.
If you feel you have a problem which needs to be dealt with the same day, please ring the surgery and inform the receptionist that you wish to be seen the same day. We have a Duty Doctor available every day who is responsible for dealing with home visits and emergency appointments or telephone advice.

Out of hours your call will be answered by NHS24. If you need a doctor NHS24 will arrange for the Duty Doctor to call you back. This will normally be either Dr Colebrook or Dr Topham.

You may also telephone NHS24 directly for advice on 08454 24 24 24
NHS24 Website Address http:/www.nhs24.com

 

Home Visits
If a patient is unable to attend the surgery, then a home visit can be made.
Requests for these should be made before 10.00am,
if possible to allow the Doctor to plan the day.

The receptionist may ask you what the problem is
as the Doctor needs to prioritise home visits.

Patient Responsibilities
Please telephone to cancel your appointment if you cannot attend so
that it can be allocated to another patient.

This practice operates a zero-tolerance policy of verbal or physical
aggression towards all practice staff.

 

---

Acharacle Medical Practice
The Pines Medical Centre
Acharacle, Ardnamurchan, Argyll, PH36 4JU
Tel: 01967 431231 Fax: 01967 431396

 

Busybee Web Design