Arbroath Medical Centre – Update 

We would like to inform you all of the changes which have taken place in the practice over the past few months, which has resulted in changes in the way our services are provided.

The practice continues to provide care for a significant proportion of Arbroath, which increased with the closure of Friockheim.  Our current list size is 10100. 

Dr Fagan retired in November last year and Dr Vesela has left the practice for personal reasons as of 31 March.

We have been actively trying to recruit GP’s.  Unfortunately due to the national shortage of GP’s, we have so far been unsuccessful.

We now have 4 GP partners, Dr Brink, Dr Fraser, Dr Robertson and Dr Campos Rio along with our Salaried GP, Dr Scallan.  We also have locum GPs who are in the practice on a regular basis – Dr Arthur, Dr Begg and Dr Fagan.  

We have been very lucky in recruiting 2 Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANP), taking us to 5 ANP’s in total, to strengthen our team of clinicians.  Our Advanced Nurse Practitioners have extensive experience.  They work closely with the GP’s and can diagnose, treat, prescribe and make referrals.

Our Practice Nurses continue to manage, with extensive training and experience of long term conditions such as diabetes and lung disease.  We continue to provide Contraceptive services including coil fitting/removal and Nexplanon insertion/removal.

At the beginning of January we implemented a full triage system for patients who telephone between 8am and 10am each day (Mon – Fri), whereby the clinical team will review the issue the patient has phoned about and establish the most appropriate method of care.  The system allows us to provide the right care, at the right time and allows the clinicians to prioritise care based on the urgency of the problem.

The fundamental changes in staff, Arbroath Medical Centre have experienced, and indeed all practices in the area, does mean the way in which care is provided will be different to the past.  Both the practice and NHS Tayside are working hard to ensure that the population of Angus remains well served by it’s health care system.  We appreciate your understanding of the reason for changes and helping us in maintaining the viability of the service.